Melissa Dibble
I’m not sure why I was chosen by Regis to blog. I haven’t traveled the world, have no interesting history or amazing stories. Since I have been given this opportunity, I will attempt to tell my story. My goal is to give you an idea about how it is to be an online student at Regis; a student that also has a family, job, and other responsibilities. So who am I? My name is Melissa Dibble. I was born in New Brunswick, Canada and raised in a small town in northern Maine. Actually, it’s one of the 4 corners of the U.S. When I was a junior in high school, I became a nurse’s aide and worked in a nursing home until I graduated high school. I moved to Connecticut a month after I graduated and lived with my sister and her family. I commuted to UCONN for a year in the physical therapy program but after the first year I transferred to a community college in Hartford. I changed my career focus to nursing. I got married to my wonderful husband, Dan the month before starting my nursing classes. I graduated in 2002 and didn’t have any desire to get my BSN or MSN until 2009. I’m not sure the exact trigger except that it seemed the right time and I had motivation and support.
I have 2 children, Abrielle is 6 and Jackson is 2 ½. My husband is a minister and owns a small print shop. They are absolutely wonderful and I love them VERY much! I also have a large extended family. All are wonderful and too many to name. I’m so thankful for all their encouragement and support during my schooling.
I started working at Midstate Medical Center while in nursing school as a CNA. When I graduated from nursing school, I started working on the FLEX Team. I floated between Med-Surg, Telemetry, Psych, OB, and the ER holding unit. It was a wonderful learning experience and was perfect for me. I didn’t know which area of nursing I wanted to do. Eventually, I took a permanent position in SurgiCenter/PACU and I love it. I now work 7am to 7:30pm, 3 days a week. I do call about every 6th weekend. It’s actually the best schedule I could ever ask for (except part time if I could afford it).
This is the first time I have ever blogged. I hope that I am able to convey my experience at Regis to you and am able to convince you that if I could do it, so can you!
