I'll be spending quite a bit of time here I suppose, so I might as well introduce myself.

My name is Matthew. I'm from Louisiana.

When I graduated high school in 1995, I entered college at Nicholl's State University. My degree would have been BSN. Needless to say, I ended up flunking out, lol. It wasn't because I couldn't hack it or that I was stupid, I did what many others do: not take myself or school seriously.

I met a girl there who is now my wife, so I can't really say I regret my actions because she's the main reason I flunked out. I was spending all my time with HER instead of studying, etc.

Fast forward 10 years later. I had a few good jobs since then working as a technician for Cox Communications for 5 or 6 years, then moved on to manage an Electronics Boutique store for a few more until I was fired this past June. My wife and I had our first child in April. I am now 28 and she is 29.

Having our first baby really started me thinking. I was in the midst of frantic job-searching when I was sitting at my computer late one night (just like now) and thought to myself "why dont you just finish what you started and get the job you REALLY want?"

The next morning, I called Baton Rouge Technical College and got the ball rolling. I am scheduled to start classes January 9th. I am pursuing my LPN first so that I can get a decent job while I contiue my education. There are three guys in my class, but one didnt seem like he really wanted to be there once they told us what was going on during orientation, so we'll see if he's still there in Jan.

I am planning to finish my LPN, which will take me 15 months due to the fact that I tested out of the most basic classes. Then, I will hopefully get a job working in one of the hospitals while I enroll at Our Lady Of The Lake Medical College to get my RN. Rinse and repeat for the BSN. I eventually plan to specialize and go into family practice as an NP

Well, that's my story. I look forward to meeting other people with the same interests.