55+ Living Guide Spring 2019 55 LG SPRING 2019 JOOM | Page 32

At 55, I Was Just Getting Started!
I graduated summa cum laude, with an associates
degree in nursing, passed the Boards, and received
my Vermont RN license — all at age 55.
“This is what I have done
since I turned 55,which
now at 72, seems young!
The question is: Where
do I go from here?”
Enjoying a stop at Atlantic Beach, NC, as we
toured the country in our RV.
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My husband and I created many happy memories together on our RV adventures, with our favorite stops
in TX, FL, VA. AZ, CO and KY.
Contributed by Eunie Miller Rice – A “55+ Living Guide” Reader
A
fter 30 plus years of working in business, law, and town government
offices in different capacities such as: office manager, executive assistant,
town clerk, paralegal and investor relations manager, I was back in
Vermont with my retired husband (disability from quadruple bypass). Locations
of my working career were New Haven, Connecticut; Syracuse and Wilmington,
New York; Stamford and Brattleboro, Vermont; Phoenix, Arizona; and Boca
Raton, Florida.
With my background and work experience, I was confident in finding a
substantial position nearby. After having searched sources to get an interesting
job and after having sent out 25 applications and resumes with only two return
calls, I discovered that I would need to commute one hour or more to do so.
Therefore, I decided to go back to school and the first step I took was to enroll in
a life-experience course at Southern Vermont College. I was able to document 33
credits from the work experience I had. I then had to make the decision of what
would be my field of study.
My children were grown and I felt I needed to contribute to others with care and
compassion. As I mentioned in my Valedictorian Commencement Speech, “there
is very little demand for compassion in the business world.” Sitting in an office did
not appeal to me. After talking to my RN sister, I enrolled in the nursing program.
In May 2001, I graduated summa cum laude with an associate’s degree in nursing.
By July 2001, I had passed the Boards and had my Vermont RN license. I was 55.
After licensing, I accepted an internship at Rutland Regional for 6 months and
then transferred to Southern Vermont Medical for 3 years of med-surg/telemetry
nursing. My elderly mother became chronically ill in Phoenix Arizona and my
younger sister who had a full-time job, tried to help her and was overwhelmed. I
investigated travel nursing companies and obtained a position in a telemetry unit
in Banner Thunderbird Hospital in Glendale, Arizona (a mile away from where
I once lived). I loaded my black 1999 VW beetle with what I needed and drove
May–August, 2019