2nd Part in a Series. To see first post, click here.

I had a slow start with my degree completion plan. At the time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Since I had some experience in the medical field, I thought I should study something along those lines. So in the Fall of 2012, I decided to take one class—Anatomy & Physiology I. I wanted to ease myself back into the classroom. I was nervous and thought I would feel out of place. I didn’t quite have the “first-time-in-college” look, if you know what I mean. I quickly realized that age, gender, and appearance didn’t matter. We were all there for one thing—to further our education.  Within the first two weeks into the semester, I became more confident and truly believed I had the potential to obtain a degree from NVC.

In the Spring 2013 semester, I took a leap of faith and registered for two classes—Anatomy &Physiology II and General Psychology. I’ve always had a passion for Psychology, but I never pursued it. With the influence of the classroom environment (and a very animated instructor), my love for psychology overcame me and put the medical field on the back burner.

One day, I requested a meeting with my instructor to talk about my newfound aspirations. At that point, it seems like I unknowingly “hired” him as my academic advisor. When we were talking, the question of what I wanted to be when I grow up came to the surface. I told him a very specific job title in a very specific field of psychology. He helped me realize that each step toward degree completion would allow me to gradually narrow my choices of specializations or fields. He also spoke to me about future courses I would take and which ones would help in the Psychology field (like Ethics, etc.). Whether it be an advisor or an instructor, it’s always good to have someone help you to pave your path to the right degree.

– Gerona Nylander
NVC Student and PR Admin Assistant