Kathleen Molnar Tomecko

In high school, I started out as a candy striper, and I loved it. I loved helping people, going into the hospitals, and everything else about it. I had two or three different things I was considering, but nursing was number one. I chose the Florida International University College of Nursing because it had the RN to BSN Program, it was close, the campus was absolutely gorgeous, and the people who interviewed me were wonderful. It all came together just right. I began to enjoy my independence more, and I enjoyed being there. I enjoyed the people I met when I first got there, and I also enjoyed walking on campus and sitting by the lake. It was so beautiful and fabulous. When I first got there, I was walking on campus and thought, 'Oh, I'm too old to be here. What am I going to do?' Then, a little old man, who was 80 to 90 years old, walked past me, and I said, 'Okay, God, I hear you.' We had one work-study program there. I was the oldest one in the group, but I still enjoyed it. My highest gratitude goes to the nursing instructors who were teaching the courses I took. They were fabulous, and I was never made to feel like I was too old to be doing what I was.