I answered an ad in the paper that I’ve seen several times over the last few months, and have contemplated briefly before putting it out of my mind again. The ad offers classes to become a Certified Nurses’ Aide, completely free of charge in exchange for a commitment to work for a physical rehabilitation clinic in Ellensburg.

I have to take a pre-test next Wednesday, to make sure that I’m qualified for the course, but I am fairly confident that I will pass without a problem. The test was described as “a little bit of math and a whole lot of common sense”. I’m competent with basic math, and I’d like to think that I’m pretty logical and sensible. I was asked if I would be interested in becoming an RN after completing the nurses’ aide certification, and my answer was “probably not”. I’m sure that I could desensitize myself to having to give shots and such, but I’m not sure that I could keep my empathy from getting to me if I had to work closely with people who have terminal illnesses, or are unable to pay for their medical care.

My main reason for calling about the ad was to provide myself with a marketable skill, a foundation for learning something more specialized. I’ve been trying to decide what I want to be when I “grow up” since adolescence. I’m inclined to dream about professions that typically don’t pay off for the majority of people who pursue them. I would love to be a rock star, or a writer, but those things won’t pay the bills soon enough. When I first considered some sort of medical profession several months ago, I had decided that being an X-Ray technician would be ideal. It’s a specialized job that always needs to be filled, but the chances of me being vomited on while standing behind a lead wall are limited. However, now that I’m thinking about it, if this rehabilitation clinic would pay for me to become an RN (which I think they might), why not go for it? If I can become an RN and find a position with the right clinic, my chances of having to subject myself to other peoples’ bodily fluids would be minimal. And jobs in hospitals and clinics are bound to have good benefits, which I could definitely use. If I’m going to start long-term treatment for my MS (my neurologist recommended that starting it within the first year would be most beneficial), good prescription coverage will be a necessity as the drugs run from $10,000 to $20,000 a year.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. First I have to pass the test. I’ll be come an adult one step at a time.