"The teachers are good about meeting with students and having open office doors to come and talk to them..."

College of Nursing |

As a student, it can be easy to become discouraged with difficult classes, a bad grade or personal challenges. Junior Wesley Bland has faced all of these challenges and more during his time as a nursing student, but practice and determination have helped him overcome.

“You start off low on the totem pole, so anything you do you’ve got to practice more and more to get better at it,” Bland said. “Anyone can do it if they’re willing to work for it.”

Bland said one of the biggest challenges nursing students face is one that almost every college student faces: keeping up with the workload.

“The amount of things that I have going on and figuring out my time management is difficult,” Bland said. “Between doing paperwork and getting ready for tests, keeping it all straight in my head is pretty hard, but it’s manageable because I want to do it. I’ve gotten better at knowing what I need to do to be organized.”

Bland also said that the nursing program’s professors have helped him manage the demands of the major.

“The teachers are excellent because they are always there,” Bland said. “Anytime I need something I can go to them. They’re not going to hold your hand the whole way, but they’re very good about meeting with students and having open office doors to come and talk to them.”

Despite all of the challenges, Bland feels that nursing is worth it and said receiving his nursing letter was one of his favorite times at Harding.

“The way I see it, if it wasn’t hard, was it really worth it?" Bland said. "Nursing can be difficult and time consuming, but in the long run it is going to be worth it because I know how hard I worked for it.”

Bland is currently considering a career as a nurse practitioner and hopes further clinical experiences will help him choose a more specific area.