Kari Schneider LPN

Hi my name is Kari and yes I do live in Minnesota and I am currently an LPN and soon to get my RN. I am a single mother of a 14 year old and so this program has been great for me. I have currently been an LPN for about 13 years.

What motivated you to earn your degree?
I started the program many years ago and I started the program after I had taken care of my grandmother when she was diagnosed with having cancer. I then moved in with her when I was in college and took her to all her appointment and I had hospice come in and just the way they took care of her just kind of motivated me to become an RN even before I looked at becoming an RN but just because of the wait time I ended up going for my LPN and then waiting for my RN because it was like a 2 year wait for me to do the mobility option so I was going to do that road but during that creative time I found out about Rue and I ended up starting it that way. For me it’s taken me a whole 7 years to get through the program but it’s been more because I ended up stopping the program for quite a few years because my mother got cancer and so I ended up taking care of her during her final days and then when she passed away it was kind of an agreement between the two of us that I was going to reach my dream of becoming an RN and that’s why I’ve hit this program so hard so that I can get to where I needed to be.

How did you hear about Rue?
I heard about Rue when I was working at a nursing home, I had a friend of mine that had started the program, probably 2 years before I had talked to her about it, and she really enjoyed the program and she was the one that referred me, and I’ve done it too, and I have 1 of them, she’s in her 2^nd year of the program right now. It’s the kind of program that you can take part-time while you’re working full time, so she’s been doing it for 2 years now and really enjoys it. It’s a great program so that we are able to actually work and have a life outside of the school situation and then take that time off at night or whenever is most convenient to study for it. It just fits, it fits into the lives, especially of women, I’m sure both sexes, but for single moms it’s definitely a godsend. I wouldn’t be here where I am without this. It’s just made it so I can get to my dream, my goals that I always wanted to reach, and going to school full-time to have to get there just wouldn’t fit into my life.

Tell us about your most recent course experience.
When I first started the program I did start off at a community college and I did take about 4 courses and I ended up just going through Rue, so after I took those 4 courses they did all transfer in, I had no problems with that. My CPNE I did take May 3-5, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That was in Madison, WI, and I would definitely recommend that place to any nurse that is trying to get to where I’m at. The experience as a whole, it may have been something different if I hadn’t passed that weekend, but everybody there, the instructors and the clinical advisor, everybody was so supportive that was taking the CPNE and having all those different supporters, a lot of them were older, a lot of them had been through a lot of the stuff already, and they knew what you’re coming there with, they knew your level of anxiety, and they were so understanding and so supportive yet didn’t cross the line of giving you the answer. The weekend as a whole, having all the information that Rue gave me, the skills kit and the video, that was like my daily diary of watching that stuff and then setting up my own lab and learning it. Everything as a whole came together during those 3 days for me and I'm just glad that I’m done and over with it, but that I also had you guys there to help me through it. By the time I get to the end and I’m done and I start working, to me just to keep your mind in a continuous motion because otherwise you get into this normal of everyday, that’s kind of what life is. I’m definitely thinking about going on from here. It proves that even though I’m 36 years old that this is something that can be done. You don’t have to go back to a school or situation; you can just take the schooling from home and still get to where you want to be. I’m definitely so pleased with Rue and how everything’s been going for me with the program and having the advisor that I did. She’s just been wonderful, she’s been here for many years for me, and it’s been the same one, everything as a whole has been great. Some of my courses were online; maybe towards the end I was doing some online stuff, like my FCCA, focus clinical competency assessment. There was a course or two that I took before online. Most of it I’ve been doing it on my own until the online stuff started to be offered. Then I gradually started doing some of the online stuff.

How easy is it to sign up for exams?
I’ve never had any issues scheduling my exams, at all, it’s been real easy to even go online and change them if you can’t make that date, I’ve never had any issues with that. Time-wise they always seem to have so many different slots open to take your exams. Rues program has been very convenient, they’ve definitely helped me every step of the way, if I ever needed anything I could always talk to my advisor, her name was Erin. If I ever needed anything she always got back to me right away, if it wasn’t the same day it was the next day. She walked me through, I know you can talk to the college advisors, I went through excelsior, I knew I could talk to them but I never did, I was always talking to Erin about when I was getting my books in the mail, she was always able to timely answer anything, she was there as encouragement to get me through the program. There were one or two times when I didn’t get books sent, and she was able to get them replaced and didn’t question me if I was lying or not, and so the support with Rue has always 100% exceeded my expectations. You know, when you deal with different people on the phone, sometimes you don’t get where you need to go and my advisor, classes she’s always told me what’s opening and when I need to get in and when I need to start. She’s always been there a step ahead for me to guide me through because a lot of it can be confusing.

What do you like most about Rue’s program?
I think the best part is having advisors like that, that are rooting you on through the whole thing and they know their job and they know what they’re supposed to be doing. Even on a personal level, she knew the situation with my mother, about my mom passing away, and she was trying to get me into classes, and I was taking a trip away for 2 and a half weeks, and she had no questions, she was always “you can do it, you’ll be fine, take this time you need and when you get back you can get back right into it, just take the time off.” She would tell me personal things too like “hey, we’re going camping this weekend.” It was almost on a more, not too personal, but I felt more comfortable with her talking about things because she wasn’t the cold “this is how it is and how it’s going to be.” She was more supportive and wasn’t afraid to open up a little bit about herself. So it was nice for me, it made me feel better, comfort-wise level.

Why did you choose Rue vs. a traditional college system?
I chose Rue because it seemed like it was something that would fit into my lifestyle and the way things were, I could take it at my own pace, and then when the time came when I was taking it a little too slowly, it was real easy for me to take two or three classes at one time when I wanted to speed things up. The program is great as to how it fits your lifestyle. If you’re sick one night and you can’t do your studies, hey that’s fine, versus if you were going to school and something important was happening and you missed it, it would lead you more towards failing, that’s why I chose Rue. I knew that if you have your mind sight that if this is what you want to do, that you can reach your goals. I did a lot of research on Rue and I found nothing, the only thing I found was people talking about how wonderful it is, and that’s why I chose Rue.

Did you research any other study programs, and if so, why did you choose Rue?
I probably did look into another one or two of them, but I was more interested in Rue because I liked how their study systems were at that point in time and it was easy enough for me because I had that friend I work with that had the materials, and she brought me the books she had and she had the work guides and workbooks and she showed me how the whole process worked so in the beginning I already felt comfortable with entering into the program and then on my own I called the BBB to see if there were any type of complaints and I didn’t find anything so that’s why I chose Rue. The process was so easy, if you don’t have a certain amount of money you needed down they were able to do monthly payments, and it just all fit, it all worked well.

How do you feel about the support you received from Rue?
The academic support I have received from Rue has been awesome. There have never been any issues. If there was ever something wrong in the computer, technical support would get back to me right away. I never had to wait to try to figure that, if I was taking online courses and having issues with my computer they always got back to me and I was always able to get it figured out. Academic advisor, like I said earlier, she was absolutely awesome. She checks in with me on times when she doesn’t hear from me in a long time, so there’s nothing, I have no complaints about Rue whatsoever.

What effect has all this had on your life?
Rue and school, and everything as a whole, it’s leading me to the end point, the goal that I wanted to reach for myself and this had been a dream for a long time for me to become an RN. I honestly, before I found Rue, I didn’t know if it was possible, because of all the personal changes going on in my life, and to the point where I’m now waiting to take my boards, I just never thought this was the spot I would be in, and Rue has definitely, the whole program, has changed my life for the better. It’s led me to eventually reach my dream here soon.

Do you believe Rue can help anyone earn their degree?
I do believe Rue can help anybody earn their degree. I do believe that you have to have a certain mindset though, and know that you can do it, and that Rue is there to guide you through it and help you reach that goal, I do believe that. You definitely need to have that mindset, to know that this is what you want to do, and even if you fail a test, you have to know that you can do it again, you’re allowed to retake that test again or that course again, so don’t give up. Personally don’t ever give up, and I believe that as long as you are strong minded and can see that light at the end of the tunnel, and you know that you can reach it, that will help you get there.