Rachel becomes a nurse, fulfilling a cherished dream

Rachel was silent—her phone remained in her bag. There was no music playing. She was lost in her thoughts, feeling numb after the day's long shift. The hum of her wheels and the headlights of passing cars distracted her deep thoughts. Arriving home, she sat in the car until finally having the energy to go inside.

Her shift began like other days. She spoke to colleagues and signed in. She attended to duties. The emergency room was always a buzz. Rachel went from one task to another. It was sometimes hard to imagine that she was training to be a nurse. She was tops in her class and her nursing preceptor was second to none.

Then the deafening noise came. In seconds, she rushed with the other nurses to the side of a patient who had gone into cardiac arrest. Their focus immediately turned to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It was Rachel's first live experience. For two hours, she joined in with continuous chest compressions. It was all done with precision. She did her best—like she had been trained. But the patient didn't make it.

"You feel like you're in a haze," Rachel remembers. "But you can't stop. Your attention goes to what is happening next, to the next crisis, to the next patient to help—you must push on, but you never forget."

Rachel knows how important it is to have help. At sixteen, she came to live at Odum Home when living at home became her biggest challenge. Improving grades, entering college, working hard to fulfill her dreams were goals she reached with the loving help of others.

It was an important day when Rachel realized she wanted to be a nurse. She could see it in herself. She knew there would be good days and days when she wished she could have done more. But she also knew she would always put her patients' needs first and do her very best to help them.

On May 10, twenty-one-year-old Rachel walked across the stage to receive her degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Only days earlier she participated in the McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing pinning ceremony, welcoming graduating nursing students into the profession. The ceremony recognized the graduates' hard work and marked their transitions to professional nursing careers.

"It was a bit surreal," Rachel says. "I don't know if I would have even gone to college if I had not come to Odum Home. I began my journey of becoming a nurse here."

Before coming to live at Odum Home, Rachel's relationship with her parents had deteriorated. They were at an impasse, the hurt ran deep. She spent most of her time hiding in her room, sequestered as things grew worse.

"I felt I had become a disappointment at home," she confides. "I didn't want to be away from my family, but it was better here. I was able to be me and speak my mind. I felt safe."

Her houseparents gave Rachel space to heal. She transitioned well. She felt respect from the staff and in turn respected them. "They gave me room to be myself." She built relationships with the other girls in the cottage, and she met her best friend Joann. At Odum Home, she began her junior year of high school.

Rachel lived at Elmore Cottage and entered the transitional living program. The program offers a living environment that undergirds learning the life skills needed to be a successful, independent young adult.

Up until that time, Rachel had done nothing to prepare for college. Her grades were poor and didn't reflect her aptitude. Deadlines for standardized tests passed. She feared she wouldn't be accepted into college if she applied. Rachel knew it was time to start over. She began the hard work to improve her grade point average, earning straight "A's" her last two years of high school. She was focused on who she was and what she wanted. She determined not to let anything stand in her way.

Joann was the spark plug Rachel needed as she took steps to attend college. The friends determined they would do it together. They completed college applications and admission essays. The girls submitted FAFSA to begin their financial aid process.

"Joann was so helpful," Rachel says. "She was key to me going to college. When we were accepted to UNCP and set out to both become nurses, we became each other's biggest supporter. If she had not been part of my life, I'm not sure I would be where I am today."

Although college was hard, Rachel was determined to do her best to become a nurse. She realigned her priorities and how she spent her days. She dedicated hours to study. She gave up much of her social life. The commitment led to straight "A's", Dean's Lists, and Chancellor's Honors Lists.

"You figure out what you must sacrifice," Rachel confides. "You have to remember, it's not about doing well this semester or that semester. It's about doing well throughout the program."

The Odum Home staff members live their Christianity, and it has been life changing for Rachel to witness. Seeing them live out their beliefs has been cause for her to step back, be open to God, and reflect on her personal faith walk.

"I believe God has put me here and put these people in my life," Rachel asserts. "I see how He has lined things up that would never have happened without Him being involved in my life and without me coming to live at Odum Home."

Rachel will be an ER nurse at Cape Fear Valley Hoke Hospital in Raeford. She returns to Odum Home when she can, a place she calls home, in hopes of inspiring residents to dream, work hard, and go for it. Just as others believed in her, she believes in them.

Written by Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity & Children