With every high school student in America trying to decide which college is perfect for them and what they should major in when they get there, many overlook a much needed and rewarding profession.

Nursing is one of the few careers that can guarantee you a job after college. So what is it like to go to school and not have a job right out of college? Well you can ask a poly sci major who has no aspirations to become a lawyer, or a biology major who is not sure about going to Med School. Don’t ask a nursing student because they are guaranteed a job somewhere.

There are two types of nursing schools. A four year program where students take nursing classes in all four years or a two year program when students use the last two years of college just taking specific nursing courses, not a rounded general education program that would include humanities and such. Two year nursing schools make you reapply during your sophomore year and the students are more focused on nursing. But whatever road you decide to take, you have to pass the National Council Licensure Examination as known as the NCLEX.

The NCLEX is the exam all graduates of nursing schools must sit for to obtain a license in the United States. Candidates who pass the exam become a registered nurse or R.N.

Nursing is one of the most challenging college majors because it combines biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and math but is also one of the most rewarding. Nurses use math every day to figure out the proper dosage of the medications. Nurses take courses in pharmacology to understand how medications work and affect the human body. Nurses are the patient’s lifeline, the medical profession who has the most interaction with the patients.

Why should you be a nurse? In a study done by Johnson and Johnson, nursing is the fastest growing occupation in the United States, with a projected 22 percent increase in nursing jobs by the year 2018. According to U.S World Reports, nurses can make anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 for different specialties such as a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetists.

Nursing’s demographic is changing. The majority female profession has had an increase in male prospective students. I am currently waiting to hear back from nursing schools but I have already been accepted to Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and Immaculata University outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Men are assets in a hospital setting because of their ability to lift and carry heavy objects or heavy patients. Male nurses, who currently make up less than 20 percent of the nursing workforce, have an average starting salary of $60,700.

So if you are still trying to decide what field you are going to go into you should entertain the possibility of becoming a nurse. Best of all, there are a wide variety of jobs that a nurse can work in. For example, nurses are needed in OB/GYN, NICU, CCU, ICU, emergency Room, Psychiatric, Hospice, Med-Surgical, Emergency Medical Services, and many more.

I plan to attend Xavier University where I will study to become a nurse and earn my B.S.N. and after passing my NCLEX exam, I plan to work in a Trauma Center and spend three years in CCU or Cardiac Care Unit. After those three years, I will go back to school to become a nurse anesthetist. I have ambitions to become the Chief of Nursing at a medical center in the United States.

So if you like having a job that is rewarding both financially and personally and have a respect for your fellow human brothers and sisters then you should look into a nursing career.