I am Elizabeth and I am in the Hospital Support Specialist program at Stenberg College. I am excited to share my first blog with everyone. First, let me tell you about how I ended up taking the HSS program at Stenberg. I researched several colleges when I was evaluating schools and program. The first time I came to Stenberg College after going for few info sessions form other colleges, my interest was to get more information about their Medical Office Assistant program. I was informed that I can upgrade the MOA to Hospital Support Specialist. Stenberg was the only school that is offering the Hospital Support Specialist program and I am really happy that they provided this career upgrade from the Medical Office Assistant. I also asked about other programs that is related to my interest and skills. So I chose MOA, HSS and Nursing Unit Clerk as part of my final choices. It actually took me almost a month before I got back to Stenberg because I needed to carefully think which school and what program offered good career choices for my future. I learned that with the Nursing Unit Clerk you can only work in one area of the hospital compared to HSS where you can apply for different areas in the hospital like Diagnostic Imaging, Health Records, Admitting/Registration and Medical Secretary. In comparison to an MOA, a HSS has more career choices and potentially higher salary. I finally chose Hospital Support Specialist after comparing other programs offered by Stenberg that are related to my skills and interests. HSS has flexible career choices available in the hospital offices as well as the private clinical offices and this should make finding employment easier.
When I started my HSS program at Stenberg, I went from being a full time mom of 6 years to becoming a full time student. Some of the adjustments I needed to consider were how to divide my time between my kids, house work and school work. I know for some people who have a family like me this is really a difficult adjustment, especially if you haven’t ever been separated from your kids since they were born. A lot of people will agree with me especially mothers out there that taking care of kids is a full time job and need almost all of your attention. We had to get a babysitter in order for me to attend school. Having a babysitter in our house and leaving my kids was new for me and very uncomfortable during the first couple of weeks because we only knew that person based on the information she provided to us during her interview. I had lots of doubts and negative feelings that I tried to fight. I worried if my kids were going to be comfortable with the babysitter or if they were going to be upset that I was not there with them. I tried to convince myself that everything would be okay. Plus, I also need to consider my kids reactions and feelings about the sudden changes in their schedules and routines. I have never been separated with them until now. Imagine our routines were the same since they were born and suddenly everything became different.
Going back to school brought mixed feelings for me. I felt really anxious about what it would be like. I was worried about managing my work load. I was uncertain if I would pass all my subjects? I didn’t really expect my first couple of weeks at school would be as smooth as they were. The school let me familiarize with my surroundings and made me feel comfortable. We discussed the rules and regulations of the school and about the expectations of the HSS program and they also gave us chances to question them and to fully understand the course and the school rules.
My classmates are coming from different ages, cultures and backgrounds. In terms of age of people who are in my program ranging from 18 to 55 years – it made me realize that age is not an obstacle if you want to learn – it doesn’t matter if you are young or old, you never need to stop learning.
