Career Choices--Which to choose

I'm getting ready to finish my degree next semester and I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do for there. I'm always looking for something else to peak my interest since I get bored so easily.
I've been kicking around a few ideas this past year for a career path. I was in a job that where I loved the work, just not the company. I tried for months and months to find another company in that field, but unfortunately no one was paying at the same rate and I couldn't afford to make less. So, that's when I hit school full speed. I started out majoring in Business, then when I realized that the job I enjoyed wasn't going to pay what I'd need to support my boys, I switched to Veterinary Medicine to start training for a Vet Tech. An obvious choice for me given my love for animals. After further investigation into the Vet Tech field, and more core classes at school, I realized that a Vet Tech wouldn't cut it either. I'd have to continue school long after my boys graduated high school...another 13 years, just to make a living long-term as a Veterinarian.

I'm really tired of school! Yes, Carlena the nerd, is tired of school!! I want to learn something, earn that degree, and put that knowledge to use and turn it into cold hard cash that will benefit my family. I'm sick of working 40+ hours a week and have nothing to show for it at the end of the month because I'm scrapping by. I know that I'm not the only one doing this, I know most families live this way and are content...I'm not.

I've tried to think of a business I could do myself and run with it...I see those people around me that think of something, put it into motion and next thing you know, they've got hundreds of fans on Facebook and are supporting themselves doing what they love as their own boss. I'll be honest...I suck at that. I want to be so good at it, but I'm just not. Like I said before, I never have the cash to put toward anything I want to start for myself, and bills have to be paid...so those entrepreneurs out there get mad props from me!

So, that leads me to where I am today. I've stuck with the General Studies in Science degree which will just mean, hey look at me...I went to school. I've finally found a good job and I'm content where I'm at, but the pay...well, the raises will come in time I'm sure, but seriously...I'm impatient! I've worked since I was 15...hard too...I'm ready for something I do to finally pay off. I look back and realize that I've spent a lot of time doing things I thought would benefit me in some way. Now I'm seeing that none of it has, so all that time and effort has been wasted. I'm tired of going through the motions and not getting ahead in life.

Which leads me to this: I have a friend that is a nurse...an LVN to be concise. She recently moved here from North Texas and has been searching for a job. Well, she finally found one and man...the pay is freakin awesome! I've been toying with the idea of working in the healthcare industry for about 2 years now. I've researched by a sonogramer...whatever the real name for that is..not sure. A NICU nurse, a nurse at Ronald McDonald House. I really want to work with kids, I wanted to teach but do to my criminal history, I didn't want to chance parents not wanting me around their children...and let's face it, kids don't care, it's the parents that make it impossible; but that's another issue. So, my friend has been talking to me about nursing since last year when I met her and how awesome it is. I really didn't think twice about it since I don't know if I'm ready to send myself back through the ringer of the educational system once again. But I find myself thinking about it all day and night. Thinking of all the possible avenues for this adventure. The pros and cons, the sacrifices, the rewards. This one thing keeps stopping me from saying I'll just go for it: It scares me.

I have a tendency to regret my decisions. I finally have a laid-back, kick-ass job, that will eventually pay me well...in like 8 years. I don't want to take this leap and fail, because then I'll have lost an awesome job and they don't come along everyday. There's also the fact that I've NEVER even spent one day in the healthcare industry...well there was that Temp-job back in 98 where I proofed prescriptions, but that doesn't count. What if I get into the program, quit this job, and realize I'm not cut out for this. I just don't want to make the wrong decisions anymore, but I don't want fear to make me pass up this chance to change my daily life for the better. And in turn, change the lives of my children as well.

Here are the Pros:
-Awesome Pay..like $20+ an hour
-12 hour shifts(less days to get a full week)
-Being around kids all day...might kill that baby-fever I've got...
-Doing something I've wanted to do for awhile
-Home with boys more during the week...possibly

The Cons:
-Have to quit work or find a part-time evening job
-Puts our savings goals on hold for a year
-ANOTHER year of school
-The hours will probably be nights and/or weekends, so I won't see the Boyfriend that much


Help me out here folks...not sure what to do. I'm going to an information session tonight and if I do this I'm thinking I should jump on it...I've thought about waiting too maybe take a year off from school...but as they as say, "There's no time like the present"!