Journey to a Vocation

Meraki
May 27
3 min read

August 26, 2024. First day of nursing school—anxious, nervous, but pretty excited.

Many hours spent on the road. Like, a lot, from Fairview to Enid to Tonkawa to Stillwater to Oklahoma City.

Minutes spent in my car bawling my eyes out.

Hours on my couch bawling my eyes out.

Stress, anxiety, lack of sleep.

Red Bull, lots of Red Bull.

Homework, lots and lots of it—I made a rule that I would try not to study or do any homework on the weekends, I was able to most of the time.

End of the semester = me being sick as dog.

Self-disappointment.

Constantly being forced to step out of my comfort zone.

Getting up early: I think the earliest I’ve ever had to get up was 3:30 AM.

Studying studying studying and more studying,

20 unit exams and numerous HESIs. The unit exams were the real deal.

Started out with 11 of us on the enid campus, and only 3 out of the original 11 graduated. At our new student orientation, we were told they had a 30% graduation rate and at that time it was hard to believe. But now I see why.

My life was controlled by the NOC Department of Nursing for 2 years.

I was once asked if nursing is hard, and I had a hard time answering the question. You might wonder why. Well, “hard” is not a good enough word to describe it. It was mentally, physically, emotionally difficult. And even now, I still can’t answer that question quite good enough. Maybe it is the nursing school trauma lol.

But I wouldn’t have been able to do all of this without the support of my husband. He deserves this degree as much as I do. He was the one who believed in me even when I felt like I had no reasons left to believe. He had held my life together for the past 2 years. I am eternally grateful to him, more than words can ever comprehend.

And thank you to everyone who would check up on me and ask me if I was doing okay.

This is the end of this chapter, but it is also the beginning of a new one.

May 27, 2026

All my Love,

Abigael Nightingale, RN

You want to hear the story of how I made it through,

When life is full of trouble, pain and fear;

The answer may sound simple,

Though everything else crumbles,

One thing has remained through all these years.

I still serve an amazing God,

He's been with me every mile my weary feet have trod;

He still cares, He still hears,

He's still mending broken hearts and drying tears.

This ol' world is bound to change,

But I'm glad I know the One who always stays the same;

And my song will ever be,

Amazing God, You're still amazing me.

The God who parted waters still makes a way today,

He's always brought me through the troubled sea;

The One who fed the thousands, whose word can calm the tempest,

He's my bread of life and He's my peace.