Becoming a Nurse Practitioner was never about chasing letters to add after my name. It was about survival, grit, and proving to myself that I could climb the mountain even when my legs were shaking.

There were nights when my textbooks stared back at me like enemies. Days when my kids needed me, my patients needed me, my love needed me, and I still had to dig out another hour to cram pharmacology into my tired brain. I burned through coffee, tears, and more notebooks than I care to admit.

I wasn’t the student who glided through. I was the student who fought for every inch. Some mornings I woke up doubting I’d ever make it; other mornings I felt unstoppable. Both were true.

And yet, step by messy step, the grind became momentum. Every late-night note, every small win, every stubborn decision to keep going stacked up until that board pass checkmark flashed across my screen.

But here’s the truth: the checkmark wasn’t the victory. The victory was everything I endured to get there. The years of working, studying, mothering, grieving, and still refusing to quit.

Now I stand on this side of the journey, not with a fairy tale, but with calluses. And I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

If you’re somewhere in that struggle right now, let me tell you: it matters. Your grind matters. Your story will matter. And when you get to your checkmark, you’ll realize the real prize isn’t the credential, it’s the version of yourself that survived to see it.

Truth sin anestesia

There’s no shortcut, no secret sauce, no miracle hack. Just the grind. Just showing up when it would’ve been easier to walk away. That’s the part nobody wants to hear, but it’s the only part that matters.

So if you’re chasing your own impossible, don’t look for easy. Look for strong. And when in doubt, add a little ají and keep moving.