Melissa Rose Smith, MSN, BSN, RN

I dropped out of high school three times.

That is part of my story, and it deserves to be told alongside the degrees that came later. Before I became a nurse and earned a master's degree in nursing education, I was a teenager who struggled to stay in school.

I lived with crippling social anxiety and experienced bullying throughout my school years. Each time I returned to school, I hoped things would be different. Each time I left, I felt defeated.

When you struggle repeatedly in the same environment, it can become difficult to separate what is happening to you from what you believe about yourself. I began to question what I was capable of accomplishing.

What finally helped me move forward was an opportunity to learn in an environment where I could thrive.

A Different Way to Learn

The last time I returned to high school, I attended an alternative education program. The classes were small—sometimes only five students—and I could work at my own pace.

The program also connected education to everyday responsibility. Holding a job was part of the graduation requirements. We submitted pay stubs for credit and punched a time clock for attendance.

That structure made sense to me. I could see the connection between showing up, doing the work, and making progress.

Most of all, I had teachers who believed in me. They taught me academic material, but they also taught me life lessons. Their guidance and support helped me recognize possibilities I had struggled to see for myself.

I will always be grateful for them.

In 2003, at age 20, I graduated from high school. By then, I was also a mother.

My timeline looked different from the one I once might have imagined, but that diploma still mattered. I had returned, kept working, and finished.

Learning to Try Again

It took a few more years before I decided to pursue college. Along the way, I enrolled in a Licensed Nursing Assistant course—and dropped out.

I wish I could say that graduating from high school immediately changed every doubt I had about myself. My journey was more complicated than that.

About a year later, I returned to the LNA course. I had decided this was something I really wanted to do.

This time, I passed.

That experience became another reminder that leaving something unfinished did not have to be my final decision. I could return with a clearer sense of purpose and try again.

Eventually, I began working toward my associate degree in nursing. It took six years to complete while I worked full time. By the time I finished, I had three children.

Six years is a long time to work toward a goal. Progress can feel slow when school has to fit around employment, parenting, and the responsibilities that continue whether you have an exam coming up or not.

But those years counted. Every course I completed brought me closer.

Two years after finishing my associate degree, I returned for my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Immediately afterward, I continued to earn my Master of Science in Nursing in nursing education.

The teenager who had dropped out of high school three times had become a nurse with a graduate degree.

What I Carry Into My Work Today

Today, my work in nursing education and through Med Pathways gives me opportunities to help others build their knowledge, skills, and confidence.

My own experience shapes how I think about that responsibility.

I remember what it felt like to struggle in a classroom. I remember how much difference a smaller learning environment made. And I remember the teachers who took the time to believe in me when I had difficulty believing in myself.

Those experiences remind me to look beyond a student's starting point. Someone may arrive with anxiety, an interrupted education, family responsibilities, or a previous attempt that did not work out. There may be far more behind their hesitation than anyone can see.

Clear expectations, practical learning, encouragement, and room to ask questions can make a meaningful difference. They did for me.

The support I received also taught me something about being an educator: the way we treat a learner can stay with them long after a class ends.

There Is Still Time

I share my story because someone else may be looking at an unfinished goal and wondering whether it is worth trying again.

Perhaps you left school. Perhaps you started a program and could not finish. Perhaps you are raising children, working full time, or wondering whether too much time has passed.

I cannot promise that the next step will be easy. Hard work matters, and so do support, opportunity, and finding an approach that fits your circumstances.

But a previous attempt does not tell the whole story of what you can accomplish.

My journey included three high school departures, an unfinished first attempt at an LNA course, and six years spent earning an associate degree. It also included returning, graduating, becoming a nurse, and continuing my education further than my younger self could have imagined.

All of those experiences belong to the same story.

Sometimes I share it to encourage someone else. Sometimes I need to remind myself, too.

There are still goals ahead of me. When they feel difficult, I can look back and remember how much began with a decision to return.

You do not have to know every step today. You can begin with the next one.