Tennessee Reconnect Spotlight will feature a first-person story each Friday...

I began attending college straight out of high school like most other students, but I quickly found myself unmotivated. I was not sure what I wanted to major in, so I decided to stop attending school and work instead.

I worked for years in retail management and enjoyed it for a while. I found myself dreaming of going back to school and pursuing a career as a registered nurse. In the summer of 2020 when the pandemic was causing shutdowns and affecting retail in a negative way, I decided to take that as my sign to go back to school.

I registered for classes that fall and have been working on completing my prerequisites for the Registered Nursing program. When I first registered for classes and saw I did not qualify for any financial aid and was only offered student loans I began to second guess this decision. I wanted to pursue my goals, but I did not want to go into extreme debt while doing it. So, when I was told about the Reconnect program, I was ecstatic!

Reconnect is allowing me to pursue my goal of becoming a Registered Nurse while allowing me to provide for myself and my family after graduation instead of drowning in loan payments every month. I am happy to say I will complete my prerequisites this fall and apply for the Nursing program in March 2022.

---Alexandra Lepley