Recently, I received some really inspiring advice from a mentor; she told me whenever you want to give up and you feel like it is just too much, remember why you started.

These words stuck out to me because when you feel like you are just at the bottom and you cannot continue, when you are so overwhelmed that you just cannot keep up, the encouragement you receive from others around you is to keep your head up and reach that finish line.

The encouragement is to always look forward to the end product, not the why you started in the first place.

I guess I started second-guessing myself because I thought I made the wrong decision. I thought maybe I made a huge mistake in the career path I was pursing and hearing these words made me realize that I had lost sight of why I wanted to be a nurse and the many goals I wanted to achieve after becoming an RN.

I was so caught up in everything else that makes life stressful that I forgot I love being there for people at their best and their worst and that I want to be someone to help them reach their goals. It is truly humbling that one day, I will stand by a patient during life-changing moments; either holding their newborn baby and handing the bundle of joy to the new parents for the first time, or holding their hand as they pray during their last few moments on this Earth.

I forgot I want to be in those moments that make a person's life extremely special or incredibly terrifying. I want to be there when they receive the happiest news or the saddest. I want to be that nurse that got them through it or went through it with them until the end.

I forgot a nurse is so much more than what is taught in the classroom. It takes confidence, strength, knowledge, empathy, compassion and an actual love for every patient you are in charge of no matter who they are or the situation they are in; each of which I knew all along I possess.

As of now I realize your goals are not always about the end product, they are about why you wanted to achieve them in the first place. I no longer look forward to holding that BSN diploma as the final goal, but as the tool I needed to hold that patient's hand when they need me the most. Then I remember why I started.