Tasha Counsell

My name is Tasha Counsell and I am from class D69. Throughout my schooling at UCMT I always heard the success stories of the people who easily made it through school and loved every minuet of it. It wasn't as easy for me but I was determined to be one of those stories, and now I am.

It has always been a dream of mine to travel, so when Steiner Transoceanic made a recruiting visit to UCMT in February, I jumped at the chance for an interview. Working on a cruise ship sounded like just the thing for me. By that time I was only half way through my schooling and didn't know if they would be willing to hire someone so far away from graduation, but decided to go for the experience. The interview process was nerve racking, but somehow I made it through.

After the interview I didn't hear back from them for 3 weeks, but when I did it was a letter saying that they wanted me to come work for them and that I was to be at their training academy in London on August 31. I was absolutely thrilled by the news but I knew that I had a lot more school to finish before I could think about that. Soon after that I realized the challenge was not getting the job, it was finishing school.

I really struggled with the next few months of school. I failed 3 classes including anatomy, all of which I would have to take in my last 10 weeks of school at night if I wanted to graduate. I decided that this mattered enough to me to go the distance, so I did. For 10 weeks I was going to school from 9 am to 10:30 pm about 3 times a week. After finals were over I was so proud of myself because I was all set to graduate with my class, I just had one more clinic shift. The morning of that shift I woke up with severe pain in my abdomen and ended up in the hospital. I missed my shift and was unable to graduate with my class.

One week later I made that shift up, and was all finished with school. I called Steiner to see if they could postpone my arrival date in London by one month so that I would have time to take my nationals, and they agreed.

That brings me up to today. After intense study I passed my nationals and I now get to sit back and enjoy everything that I have worked so hard for. I leave for London in 2 days and I have never been more excited for anything. The main reason that I wanted to share my story is because I wanted to let all the students that are having a hard time with school know that you can do it. And it is SO worth it in the end. I don't recommend going about things the way I did but this is a story for all of the students that are thinking its to hard and they can't finish.

You can and you will. This is an amazing profession and I love what I do. I am so grateful for the opportunity to live out my dreams. And the best part is, it is only beginning. I haven't even started yet.