I went into the new year full of hope that my life was about to change for the better. I was finally going to get the chance to practice the profession that had kept me in school for the past six years.
I had just been inducted into the Nursing and Midwifery profession. And with various persons promising me internship spots at different hospitals, it wouldn’t take so long until I landed myself a job and began practicing, or at least it wasn’t supposed to.
The third week of January rolled around; I hadn’t gotten an internship yet. I was in constant communication with my aunt, who worked in a large teaching hospital here in Lagos. She had secured a spot for me there, but she just didn’t know when exactly the internship was scheduled to commence.
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She kept reassuring me that everything would be fine and I should just exercise some patience. I tried to stay calm as I watched my classmates share their own good news when they landed their internships. I’m getting flashbacks.
The middle of February breezed in, and I still was jobless and at home. My mom suggested I look for a regular nursing job. But deep down, I didn’t want to do that because it would mean I was admitting defeat. I persisted though and began to get a functional CV together.
Not too long after I commenced the hunt for a job. Looking for a job in itself is difficult, but then throwing in the fact that I was an introvert and not too great with people, that seemed to aggravate the intensity of the situation.
I remember going into each hospital with my head held high and my CV in hand. I would walk to the receptionist area and state my mission. Some of the receptionists would tell me to sit and wait for the doctor, while others simply said they would get back to me.
I won’t lie, as much as I tried to feign confidence, I wasn’t so confident in my skills because, I mean, I was just fresh out of school. I was heavy on the knowledge and scanty in the application. Yes, we practiced some things while in clinical settings, but I wasn’t competent enough to work in the field and be paid a justified salary.
So I guess this reflected in the interviews I got, as almost none of the facilities reached back out to me. Eventually I got something and immediately accepted it. I resolved to work there while waiting for an internship.
Getting this internship was pertinent in my professional journey as it was and is the only way I would get my permanent and recognized license to practice as a registered nurse. I resumed work not too long after.
So I continued to show up to work, 12 hours a day, four days a week, wishing that before the end of the month, I would be called for an internship. Work was great; it was a small hospital that didn’t seem to get a lot of traffic, so I only got to learn the basics.
No one prepared me for the amount of time I was going to spend there. I ended up working there for six months and some change! During these months, I persistently applied to over 20 accredited hospitals. I attended a few interviews too and kept coming out with nothing.
The rejection from these hospitals stung like hell. Either they wanted someone of the same tribe or religion, or they had already picked well-connected candidates. This period was quite a challenging one; so many things were happening at once.
The majority of my classmates had secured spots in top hospitals and had garnered a multitude of knowledge and experience; some others hadn’t gotten at all, and some of us already had our licenses, so they couldn’t possibly relate.
And I was stuck working a job I wasn’t happy in. I kept praying and asking God to hasten his plan for me😅, as I had grown tired of waiting.
Eventually, one Thursday morning while at work, I got the call I had been longing to get all year. God had pulled through, and I secured an internship at Reddington Multi-specialist Hospital, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Somebody help me shout Alleluia😄😄
I was so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, I couldn’t contain it. That was one of the best moments of 2024; I smiled all the way to bed that day😄. It was amazing.
The biggest takeaway from that experience was patience. I learned to be patient and to make the most out of the waiting period. I learned that if you ever want something big, you are going to need to learn to wait on the Lord, and when He is done cooking, you’ll be glad you did!
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Congratulations @zitalove!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!