Turning Pain Into Purpose

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Turning Pain Into Purpose

Nickie
H.
Class of 2025
Program: Practical Nursing

Nickie

H.

Class of 2025
Program: Practical Nursing
“For the next 14 months I buckled down on my studies. And the school went above and beyond to keep me moving in the right direction. “

Read the inspiring story that led Nickie Hill to refuse defeat and return to school at age 52 to finish her nursing degree.

I could have saved him, I thought. I could have prevented him from dying.

That’s what kept replaying in my head that day in the hospital — that I could have made a difference. Right then, I promised myself that from then on, I would.

Before that tragedy, I was a certified nursing assistant at a local medical facility. I routinely worked “doubles” — eight hours followed by another eight hours. I pulled the double shifts at least three days a week.

It was hard, and I got little sleep. But I had to pay the bills. This is my job, I told myself. I was 52 years old, and professionally, I had arrived at a dead end. But then our family ran into a medical disaster, and suddenly I felt compelled to move forward.

My 18-year-old stepson, Damyles, was suffering migraine headaches. His pain got so bad that his mother took him to a nearby hospital emergency room.

Read the entire your here at the Chicago Sun Times website.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/2025/10/22/college-nursing-family-tragedy-stepson-rockford-nickie-hill

#NursingJourney #FromTragedyToTriumph #RockfordCareerCollege #RockfordWorks