By Riley Breshears

Special to ESSAY CURE

 

My college counselor during my senior year of high school helped guide me through the college decision process to compare the different options that I had as a potential nursing student. Knowing myself and my tendencies, I decided that a direct-admit nursing program would be the best for me. I didn’t want to worry about being the top student in my classes to compete with others in my junior year to get into a program with the possibility that even all As wouldn’t be enough.

After doing research, I began to realize that only private religious-based schools have direct-admit programs. The idea of a private religious school was new to me because I had gone to public schools all my life and always said I would go to the University of Oregon like my Dad. My counselor helped me generate a list of the potential schools with direct-admit programs. Another commonality I found was that most were in smaller Midwest cities, which didn’t excite me. I applied to more than 16 schools. After hearing back from all the schools and scholarships I was offered, I began to narrow my choices.

I had a 4.0 GPA but did not do very well on my SAT, according to my counselor, with a score of 1180. 

I toured my top 4 choices: Gonzaga, Baylor, University of Portland, and Loyola Chicago. I decided that the University of Portland was too close to home, being only a 20-minute drive. I visited Gonzaga and decided I didn’t like the school’s location. So, it was down to Baylor and Loyola. I liked Baylor because they had football and Greek life. The community at the school was awesome. However, the nursing school at Baylor is a little different. In the last two years, students move to Dallas to do clinical. I talked to many students there, and they said sometimes it gets boring because there isn't a lot to do in Waco, and a car is a must. Another downside was that Baylor didn’t give me a great scholarship. 

That left me with Loyola. I went to visit and was very surprised! The nursing program amazed me. I was still worried that I would miss the “college experience,” with Loyola having no football team and not being a state school. However, I went to a basketball game and felt the school spirit. At the time, my Mom’s best friend from high school lived in Chicago, she showed me the ropes of the city, and I loved it. It gave me a sense of comfort knowing I would have a “Mom” figure nearby. Loyola also gave me a great scholarship. 

MNSON is a four-year direct-admit program. This means that students apply to the nursing program with their college applications during their senior year of high school. This is different from an indirect program where students apply to the nursing program going into their junior year. 

The biggest reason why I chose Loyola was the nursing program itself. I knew I would be getting top education. One of the reasons why I love the program at Loyola is that as a freshman, Loyola has students taking nursing classes. All of the classes besides core are nursing based. For example, my chemistry and anatomy class freshman year was anatomy for the nursing profession and chemistry for the nursing profession. This results in only nursing majors being in the class instead of big lecture halls with all the intimidating pre-med majors. All of my professors are practicing nurses/ nurse practitioners. They fill the lectures with real-life experiences and stories and how that subject will be used in your day-to-day practice after graduation. I have found that all my professors are passionate about nursing, which makes class a very exciting and happy environment. 

Class sizes are small — anywhere from 15 to 35 students — which I love! These characteristics wouldn’t be found in an indirect nursing program until junior year. Classes in an indirect nursing program will be broader in the first two years as they are for non-nursing and nursing students.  

However, the nursing program has some strict rules. Students cannot retake more than one class, must maintain a certain GPA, and there is a more rigorous grading scale than the rest of the college (92 percent is a B+ and 93 percent is an A-), so getting less than a class C- is failing in comparison to less than a D.

I am not going to lie — college is not easy. Freshman year is hard. Incoming freshmen must take anatomy and chemistry along with the connected labs and core classes. Anatomy was probably one of the hardest classes and labs I have ever taken. I spent many nights crying. I got to the point where I was put on academic watch. I had many meetings with the dean of the nursing school (she is a sweetheart). During these meetings, we talked about my options.

I met with a success coach who was given to me through school, we went over my study patterns, test-taking skills, and self-care activities. I had many one-on-one meetings with my professor, he was very encouraging and gave me his number to call if I ever had questions when I was studying. 

The student instructors saved me. Loyola has a special thing for the nursing program where outstanding seniors sit in our freshman and sophomore classes and then hold study sessions multiple times a week to prepare us for the tests and highlight the most important things from the lectures. I was not the only student in my program who took advantage of this. There were often 30-minute lines outside of our professor’s office that consisted of students crying with fear of failing. 

My sophomore and junior years were still challenging, but by this time, I knew my study habits and the resources I could use to help me succeed. There are many times when I had to stay in and study, missing out on the social aspect of college a little, but I figured out how to balance it. I always try to give myself Saturday when I don’t do any studying and can relax. 

I found a great friend group through my dorm experience freshman year that I have now lived with for three years. None of them are nursing students, which I love because it can get very competitive spending time with nursing students, and I love that not every conversation in my living situation is about school or coursework.

Honestly, as hard as the program is and all the struggles I’ve had, I am very happy with the education I’ve received and how much I have grown. I am now a senior and have been in many different clinicals and hospitals. I’ve worked with amazing nurses who allow me to practice my skills. This next semester I am placed at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital for my pediatric rotation and Northshore for my OB rotation, I am so excited to help deliver babies in a week! 

_{Riley Breshears is a senior at the Loyola University of Chicago in the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. She is a 2019 graduate of Wilsonville High School in Portland, Oregon.}