Feeling very behind compared to peers. Was told I'm behind as well. (degree, job)

[Jaellys]

I'm getting older, I'm 25 and I just graduated nursing school. I don't have kids or a boyfriend. Most girls my age are married and have kids. I feel so inadequate to these girls I went to high school with that went into raising a family instead of going to college

[MLSFan]

and? waiting for the rest of the story...

want someone to tell you that you choose the right path in life? how would anyone else know?

[Jaellys]

I feel like what I did is looked down upon. I live in Utah btw

[MLSFan]

and so what? if someone else wants to look down on you, what difference does it make? they are them, you are you. you do what you want and not live by what other people want. if you are honest with yourself and can live by your choices, then it won't matter what others think.

that said, while utah is a nice place to live, it was a bit odd as a single person for me. they thought i was strange for not going to church, i thought they were odd because they kept trying to hook me up with someone and settle me down. move somewhere else if you want, but you still have to live by your decisions in life and they don't have to.

forgot to mention it, but a lot of 20 something nurses that i have met, have been travel nurses or thought about it. the pay is good and while in your 20s, it is a good time to see the country on someone else's dime. when you are ready to settle down, you can pick a city/state you like and get a full time job then raise a family. there is a pretty high demand for nurses out west (mostly because california is a large state) if you don't want to travel too far from utah. might find a life partner after traveling too since it opens up the dating pool to other cities. if you plan to travel, most like their nurses to have 1-2 years of experience, it is possible to travel without it but you won't get the "better" picks if you like popular locations since other travelers will also be aiming for them. Fun west coast assignments were alaska/california (need state licensing)/washington for me. i didn't care much for oregon but i liked washington since i could make weekend trips to canada, hunted up in alaska and played on the beach in california. the east coast is nice too, maine during fall season is great.

[Disgustedman]

Originally Posted by Jaellys

I'm getting older, I'm 25 and I just graduated nursing school. I don't have kids or a boyfriend. Most girls my age are married and have kids. I feel so inadequate to these girls I went to high school with that went into raising a family instead of going to college

Don't worry, they're ahead of you having a divorce, being an single mother and other things also...

[GraceKrispy]

Move. There are many places in the country where your lifestyle would not be looked down upon at all, and it is rare in the many of the places I'd lived for 25yo to be married and/or have kids. In fact, of my group of friends, only 2 of say 25 were married before age 30. One got married after an unplanned teenage pregnancy. The other one was me. (I was like you in reverse- almost none of my friends were married and by the time I started having kids, they were just starting to think about getting married).

If the people around you look down upon you, then maybe it's time to find a different group of people to be around. Nursing school is a great accomplishment.

[Suburban_Guy]

Girl, move elsewhere.

[Jaellys]

A Mormon girl from my school who is my age said that she wanted to go to nursing school but she felt being a stay at home mother was more meaningful as it's the "hardest job in the world". And, in her words, "creating lives is just as important as saving lives"

[bigdaddy5]

I know quite a few 26 year old RN's in SoCal who are enjoying the single life.
And they're driving nice cars.

[Sgoldie]

You should be proud that you had the good sense to get a degree in a field you could make a good living at to support any future kids. You never know what life brings.