Thursday, September 16, 2010

Skewing the Demographic

On Monday I return to academia after a 27-year absence. I will be a full-time Nurse Practitioner/ Masters student at the University of California, San Francisco. Last night I attended the local chapter meeting of the California Association of Nurse Practitioners and, ever the joiner, I am now a student member. For the first time in my life I had a moment of sadness that I am 56 years old and will therefore have a shorter career as an NP than most of the others in the room. But I love to learn new things and it will be exciting to study advanced pharmacology and pathophysiology in the context of having 27 years of experience as an RN, much different than memorizing signs and symptoms of diseases I hadn't even heard of in nursing school. (Tip for all you nursing students: "coma and death" are always correct choices when quizzed on side effects of medications.) I find myself worried about being too old to do this thing and wonder if I go back to dying my hair, will it make me feel younger? As I contemplate this, I realize that blonde is the new gray. It seems that many women my age are going blonde, instead of whatever color they were before they became silver. My hair stylist and friend Pam says people shouldn't go blonde if they never were natural blondes; I was tow-headed when I was 2 years old. Does that count? Anyway, I am eating my fruits and vegetables, getting exercise, going to bed early and celebrating 31 years of wedded bliss next week. AND skewing the demographic at the University of California. Whoo hoo!