More About ME!

So I will say being me has not been an easy ride! I was born into an AMAZING family of a Mom, Dad, and 3 sisters (triplets mind you!!) I don't remember much of my childhood looking back now but I know from stories that it was probably the best I could have asked for! When I was in 3rd grade we made the move from Michigan to Wyoming because of jobs declining in Michigan for my dad who worked construction. I will say in Michigan I had many friends who I got along with and after moving to Wyoming I did not. Once moving to Wyoming I remember being bullied a lot by the other kids because I was "the new kid" even after a year or two. Elementary school I was not only verbally bullied but I also got physically bullied by being pushed over and WALKED ON by a few of my peers. It was a vicious cycle for me back then and had hopes of getting away from all of the bullying once I reached middle school (elementary school in Wyoming for me was up until 5th grade). By middle school I was able to expand my horizons and join band which ended up being my saving grace because I could escape the world through music. Lo and behold little ole me decided to play tuba of all instruments in band (originally wanting to play flute but that wasn't a good choice for me after trying out the mouth pieces). So thinking that I would be "cool and fun" playing tuba in middle school as a girl and being the only one I kind of made a name for myself among my band peers. Which wasn't always the best. I ended up getting bullied because of my instrument choice starting in 7th grade. It was very rough for me to go and be bullied yet again. I ended up starting to self harm then and even attempted suicide because it was bad enough with some of the other kids saying "just go kill yourself then were ALL better off". But life had other plans with me with not ending my life. I survived middle school and finally got into high school! Upon enrolling for high school I was debating joining band there because of all the bulling I endured just by playing tuba. But I joined anyways and that experience was SO MUCH better than middle school. Yes I still got bullied here and there but the band room was my safe haven. I grew up a lot in those 4 years because of band. And get this! I wasn't the only tuba player anymore! And the other one WAS ALSO A GIRL!!. So 4 years of high school dragged but flew by because of band. Next thing I knew it was graduation day in 2017! I MADE IT THROUGH PUBLIC SCHOOL!!!! I was proud of myself for being able to endure "the best years of your life".

As I entered college I wanted to get my prerequisites done so I could get into the nursing program to finally achieve my dream of becoming a nurse. I graduated with my Associates in Health Science in 2019. But I had a little mishap and didn't get my application and placement testing done in time to get into the Nursing program Fall of 2019, so I took psychology classes in the mean time to get in for the next year. I also took up learning American Sign Language through the college before entering the nursing program also. Then COVID hit, and it was CHAOS for everyone.

But I managed to get into the nursing program for the next year and started Fall of 2020. Things did look different for us in that program because there wasn't much that we could do outside of the college for our first semester because of COVID still ongoing. But life had a funny little twist for me during that time. During my first semester my father started to get very sick. It seemed like hospitalization after hospitalization for him. As his health declined more and more I started my 2nd semester of nursing school. After talking with my fiance since the previous summer, on February 1st 2021 we decided to take the biggest step of our lives and begin dating long distance. 14 driving hours between us and working different shifts. But we made it work. Next thing we know I'm struggling in school because of the stress I put on myself dealing with school, work and my fathers declining health. They forced me to withdrawl because of everything going on and another student had told them that her and a few other of my classmates recieved an email with test answers. I never got the email even though I was listed in it. So as they forced me to withdrawl the had said "you need to figure out your support system" as they KNEW my father was actively dying but they did not care. So I withdrew.

Then my fiance came to visit me for the first time. Not at all how we expected to spend our time but we went on many dates and grew more and more in love. After a week of him being in town, he had to leave back to Kansas. Just a few short days later on April 8th I called him at 5:20am with the worst news, my father passed away. We had to quickly plan a funeral because he was a Shriner Klown and they had a benefit on the 24th of April to help raise money for us for his mountains of medical bills. He made his way back to not only see me but support me through my father's passing. And that weekend he got me a promise ring!

After working a couple more months I decided I needed a vacation...to Kansas. So I put in my time off request and got things packed for my first ever solo trip and a long 14hr drive. That drive seemed to fly by and next thing I knew I was in Kansas hugging my fiance. This trip was over my birthday (end of June) and I finally got to meet his family. They were so happy and glad to finally meet me and were surprised that I made the trip for him because none of his exs' would drive even 2hrs to come see him. That long weekend felt way to short by time I had to leave. As I drove away I cried.

I came back and IMMEDIATLY put in another time off request for the first 2 weeks of September. Work started to drag and I became more and more unhappy with how I was being treated. I wanted out of that workplace and out of town. Next thing I knew 2 DAYS before I was to leave for Kansas again the scheduler texted me saying that she didn't have enough staff to be able to have me be gone for 2weeks. 2 DAYS BEFORE I WAS TO LEAVE!!! Well what did I do? I still went. When I came back they said that I had "8 no call no shows" and had only heard the schedulers side of the story where she told them she informed me 2weeks in advance. That was my breaking point. After a few more shifts I talked with my mom about me moving. As any parent would be with their youngest moving out, she was sad and scared for me.

After putting in my 2 week notice that my last day would be the last day of September I was free! I was staying until the end of October to get more time in with my friends and attend a wedding. That month flew by yet again and I headed to Kansas bright and early on November 1st, 2021.

Those couple of months living in Kansas was what I needed as a refresher for life and to realize so much about not only myself but my relationship. We ended up moving to Wyoming so I could attend school again and try Nursing out again. But in a different town from my family. As of currently we still live in the same town we moved to but with very different perspectives now.

I got into the Nursing Program at this college and all was well! Passed my first semester and felt amazing about starting 2nd semester again. Then over the summer I got pregnant with our son. If you know anything about Nursing School or even pregnancy you know its hard and stressful. Put those two things together and I was failing my not only my lecture tests but my math tests AND clinical paperwork! So I made the hard decision to withdrawal and focus on my pregnancy and make sure I had a healthy little baby because I could come back the next fall back into 2nd semester ready to put pedal to the medal and get that RN!

We had our son on February 15th, 2025 at 5:23am. He was perfect. 10 fingers 10 toes and the most precious eyes and chubby little cheeks. He stole our hearts from the moment we laid eyes on him.

After now being a stay at home mom I was more than ready to get back into school and achieve my dream for my son. We got the last infant spot in the daycare on campus for him and we worked very hard getting him used to his teachers, the environment and yet struggled with getting him used to a bottle. He was definitely a breastfed baby. This semester was going GREAT, I was doing well with testing, somewhat struggling with math tests, and doing well with my clinical work. Even managed to plan to get family pictures done one weekend so we could have them for our Christmas cards this year! Then the math competency had to be taken because 85% overall needs to be had for math. Going into the competency I was sitting at an 83%. 20 questions, 50 minutes. I felt really good about it! Then I get the devastating news that I got an 80%. I cried. And cried....And well cried some more. But my family pictures were planned for that weekend so what do I do when I need a good pick me up? And especially now not being in the nursing program? Dyed my hair purple!

So yep I had purple hair for my family pictures! As we got to the first location for pictures it was a little cold out and our photographer had brought along a picture frame because she had an idea for a picture to use it with. We set our son a little ways back from us and then kneel in front of him with him centered in the picture frame. As we were done with those pictures, I stood up. But my fiance stayed down kneeling. My thoughts were "Get up BRO! We have pictures to take!!" but then next thing I knew he was digging in his pocket and pulled out a ring. Now I don't really remember fully what he had said besides the "Will you marry me?" part because I was so ESTATIC.

So now were just planning a wedding and I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life for work. Our son is so happy either way and absolutely loves both of us and loves looking and playing with my engagement ring. (I can't really blame him I love looking at my ring and fiddling with it myself!!)

Thank you for the LONG read! But now we know a little bit more about me!

Love,

Makayla