News Article

To say the past five years have been a busy time for Paula May would be an understatement. At the age of 42, the Springdale native felt it was time for a change – switching gears from a career in office administration that spanned two decades to an exciting career in the medical field as a nurse.
 
Before heading into the 16-month Practical Nursing program at College of the North Atlantic (CNA), she enrolled in the Comprehensive Arts and Science (CAS) Transition program; a move that she believes helped her immensely.
 
The CAS Transition program is designed for high school and Adult Basic Education graduates who would like to improve their general employability skills or who are lacking either the academic courses or the required grades to meet the entrance requirements of the college program they would like to enter. The program also provides a valuable “refresher” for mature students who have been away from education, training and/or the workforce for some time.
 
Paula has lived and worked coast-to-coast in this country. She was raised in Ontario and Quebec, and spent seven years in British Columbia. However, Newfoundland and Labrador was always in her heart. When 2009 rolled around, she evaluated her life and realized she didn’t want to be in British Columbia any longer.
 
“Life changes and you sit down and you re-evaluate a few things and think, ‘What is all this for?’ I did a little personal assessment and decided Newfoundland was always somewhere that I wanted to go back to. It’s just the opportunity never arose, so I said, ‘Well now, here it is’ and that’s why I made the decision a year later and moved.”
 
Once settled back on the Rock, and having made the decision to return to school, when it came to choosing a program she knew she wanted to attend Grand Falls-Windsor campus and that she wanted to do something different.
 
“I thought something that is a bit of a challenge, something that I would enjoy,” she recalled, “and something outside of the scope of what I've done for the last 20 odd years. So I looked into Practical Nursing.”
 
However, when she didn’t meet the entrance requirements for the program, she was advised to enrol in the CAS Transition program.
 
“I found that the CAS program actually helped you get your mind set around school again, around the study time, around the dedication to your books, of your writing and of your exams because it puts you back in that mode,” Paula said.
 
“I loved everything about it, I really enjoyed it. The coordinator, Paul Cole, (at Grand Falls-Windsor campus) was phenomenal to deal with, and any issues you had you could go to him. He had an open door policy which was great. The school was really excellent. The staff was perfect, the courses were great and a lot of the instructors were really there and available to you.”
 
When she graduated from the CAS Transition program in May 2012 and went directly into the Practical Nursing program in September, she realized many of the things she learned from the CAS Transition program rolled over to her studies for Practical Nursing.
 
“I would recommend CAS to anybody if they're going on to something else. I think anyone who's later in life and deciding to go back to school, and they need certain credits or requirements, should take it. Don't just say ‘Ah forget it’ and walk away. It's so worth it and in the end, it pays off. To me, it does a lot of things that you'd never think it would do for you. It truly does, it prepares you because it’s a big deal to go back to school.”
 
Paula says the 16-month Practical Nursing program was very intense and feels the CAS Transition program saved her plenty of headaches.
 
“There's a lot of information crammed in such a small period of time and with CAS you're already in school and you've already learned so it gives you that organization. I found people that came into class (without CAS) didn't know how to study, they didn't know how to organize their time, and they didn't know how to wrap their head around how to do this again.”
 
Paula graduated from the Practical Nursing program in December 2012 and had a job waiting for her in her hometown. While completing a six-week preceptorship with a health care facility, she applied for a Licenced Practical Nursing (LPN) posting, had the job interview on a Thursday, and started her permanent full-time job on Monday. She remains in the same position today and says there is a high demand for LPNs in this province. In fact, all of her classmates got hired right out of the program.
 
It’s been quite a whirlwind for Paula, who on top of completing two programs at CNA, got engaged last year to someone she met in Springdale while visiting the area as a teenager. She says her life has come full circle and they were married just last month.
 
“Life has been pretty busy since I started and ended school, and the new job, but this is what my goal was. I have been working since I was 19-years-old and went back to school at 42 for a career change. My background was office administration, and being an admin assistant to a department manager of 21 people.”
 
But what she enjoys most about this new career is interacting one-on-one with her patients.
 
“The best part of the day is when you can go into see the patient or resident and you're doing something for them and you can have a laugh, have a joke, and that makes their day because for some people they don't see anybody for days on end. We are indirectly an extension of their family,” Paula said.
 
“They get to talk about if they're feeling down or upset or they got bad news in the family, and we're that other part of the family they can talk to. So you do certainly get a lot of gratification out of that –you actually were there for somebody in that moment.”
 
And while school was not without its sacrifices and challenges, both financially and personally, looking back she doesn’t have any regrets.
 
“With the amazing support I had from family and my now husband, those sacrifices paid off. It’s never too late to go back to school. That I am a firm believer in and always have been. I say this to anyone who questions further educating themselves or a career change at any age. It is never too late to do what you want or go for what you want. The fear of the unknown will paralyse people and the nay sayers will discourage people, but people have to have faith in themselves despite the fears and negativity. I am looking at doing post-certification in areas of my field of practice next year – so just never stop learning!”
 
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Media Contact:
 
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca