I'm typing this at like 2 AM. Can't sleep again. My shift at the plant starts in a few hours, then after that it's straight to campus for another three hours of this nursing stuff. It's just... I'm worried. About the test. The big one. The one you need to pass to actually *be* a nurse. I mean, I don't even know why I'm bothering with this forum, probably nobody cares. But it's easier than saying it out loud, you know? Been at the factory for twenty-some years. Same line, same noise. Made good money, raised the kids, bought the house in the good school district. Got the lawn that doesn't embarrass the neighbors. Everything's... fine. My folks are getting older now, my mom's got that thing with her back and Dad's memory is a little... off sometimes. And it got me thinking. About what comes next. What if I could actually *help* them. Help people. So I signed up for these night classes. Thought it would be different. Like, not so much... homework. It’s just... it’s been SO LONG since I was in a classroom. Like, high school was a lifetime ago. I mean I don't even — whatever. It’s not like I was some whiz kid back then anyway. Now it’s all these big words and diagrams and you have to *memorize* everything. My brain feels… stiff. Like trying to bend an old piece of metal. I read the textbooks, I do the practice questions, but nothing seems to stick like it should. I just watch these younger kids, they just *get* it. And I'm sitting there, writing notes, trying to keep up. Wondering if I'm just wasting everyone's time. All this money. All this time away from home. What if I fail? Like, REALLY fail. What would I even tell people? My wife, my kids. The guys at work who think it's funny I'm going back to school. I just keep thinking about that test. It’s like a brick wall getting closer and closer. And I don’t know if I can climb over it.