Michelle Gillie LPN

Hi my name is Michelle and I live in Mesick, MI, northern Michigan where the rivers flow clear and the air smells wonderful. I am an LPN, and have been an LPN since 2005.

What motivated you to become an RN?
I got motivated to get my LPN first of all after seeing a couple friends of mine go through some major surgeries and not knowing what was going on with them, so I decided to get my LPN, and after getting my LPN I decided that passing meds wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I wanted to teach people things and teach staff and family members how to do things correctly and take care of their loved ones and just to do things right and promote healthy well-being and just to teach people to be as healthy as they can and take care of people, and to make a difference in peoples’ lives. That is why I decided to for my RN, it’s been a long road but I am almost there.

How did you hear about Rue Education and did you research and other companies?
I heard about Rue Education through a mailing that I received. I received mailings from a couple different companies and I did a lot of research and Rue education happened to be the only one that was endorsed by Excelsior College and I knew that Excelsior College was where I was going to get my college credits through. After talking to the academic advisors at Rue Education, I felt very comfortable, they were very helpful, they were very friendly and welcoming, and so that is how I ended up going with Rue education. I have referred a couple people to Rue, I’ve given them information to contact, every time someone asks “Hey what do you think of Rue education?” I always let them know what a big success they have been in my life and how they really helped me to obtain my goals in my life and so I will continue to do that in the future and hopefully people will listen because it’s been a great adventure for me.

How many courses do you need to complete to earn your degree?
I have all of my courses completed and I am 27 days from going to take my CPNE in Madison, WI. I go to take my test September 13-15 and so I’m a little stressed out right now, but I am confident that everything is going to go smooth. I’m taking my husband with me so he is going to be there to chauffer me and support me and pamper me the whole time so that I don’t get too stressed out. The light is so close to the end of the tunnel so I'm very, very excited that everything is coming together and my courses are all complete and life is going to be pretty good here very soon.

How long did you take to complete your most recent course?
The last course I completed, the course itself I believe was 8 weeks long, and I usually take 3-6 weeks afterwards to do some last minute studying, and make sure all my ducks are lined up and I know everything, and as soon as I'm comfortable I schedule the exam. I always take the excelsior practice exam which I feel really help too. Altogether, I think I usually spend about 3 months on each by the time everything is said and done. Not too bad, I feel pretty confident that everything goes pretty quickly.

How soon do you expect to earn your RN?
Once I take the CPNE, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, I don’t know how long the process is in the state of MI once you pass your CPNE, the whole process that it takes to take the NCLEX, but I'm going to get it done as quickly as I can. I’ve got my NCLEX study guide here and in my spare time, which right now there isn’t a lot of, but just freshening up on different things so that when the time comes I'm ready to rock and roll and get that NCLEX done and have that license in my hand and I'm ready to go to work and take care of my patients.

How easy is it to sign up for exams?
I have found it very easy to sign up for the exams, the whole process has basically been a piece of cake, getting your authorization to test and finding your testing center and doing your exam, and the workers at the exam center are just so helpful and I’ve never had a problem with anything and they just make the process very relaxing because of course as we all know, this is a very stressful thing to do learning on your own, and I got a B in microbiology all by myself, so I was pretty impressed with that. Having everything smoothly run along just makes things so much easier when you’re doing this all on your own and it’s just been a great process.

How well do you feel Rue’s program has prepared you?
The Rue program I feel has really helped me prepare for my exams because I have a hard time staying focused, I don’t know if a have a little ADD, or the fact that I'm almost 50 years old and trying to get my degree, but Rue presents things ins several different ways, whether you’re a visual learner, or they have different things you can listen to, or there’s tactile activities, they offer crossword puzzles and quizzes, just so many ways to get your mind motivated to help you to remember things. Just the variety of activities really helps things to stick in your mind and I feel that is what really helped me to successfully complete my degree and do so well in this program.

What did you like most about Rue’s study system?
What I liked most about the Rue study guide was all the different ways that you could learn. If you were one that likes to go through, they would give you scenarios, and you would go through your books and find the information and write it all up. My girls tell me I'm a nerd and I like to write things out, so answering questions and study guides and re-writing things and making notes, that’s the kind of thing that I like to do. Taking practice tests over and over trying to beat my last score, those are the kinds of things that I like to do.

Why did you choose Rue and independent study over a traditional college setting?
I chose Rue over a college situation due to the fact that I'm almost 50 years old and I don’t really have a lot of spare time and the time that I do have I didn’t want to be spending driving back and forth to college because to me that’s a lot of wasted time when I could just be sitting at home doing an independent study program. If I wake up and 2am in the morning and I can’t sleep I can just get on the computer and write my notes and I can do it at my leisure and my convenience and I got things done when it was convenient for me and there was no time frame and I didn’t have to sit in a classroom and it’s really what works for me. If I were to have to sit in a traditional classroom I wouldn’t be doing this right now because I just wouldn’t have the patience to get through a class and get things done that way so I'm very thankful that there are opportunities to study at home and get your degree so that is really what works for me.

How do you feel about the support you have received from Rue so far?
The support that I have received from Rue has been absolutely amazing. The academic advisors that I have been in touch with have always been there for me whether I need to celebrate a good grade or I’ve been having a bad day and have to cry on somebody’s shoulder, they’ve just always been there. They call, they check on you, to see how you’re doing. They treat you like you’re part of the family, and they’re just very friendly and down-to-earth and you couldn’t ask for a nicer group of people to have the opportunity to be in contact with when you have questions, concerns, or you just need to chat because sometimes you get off track and you need to talk about your family and kids and things like that. They’re just a great bunch of people that I’ve had to opportunity to work with on my journey.

What effect has all of this had on your life?
The effect that all of this whole experience has had on my life is a pretty positive one. Having the opportunity to study at home, and not having the traditional classroom type to deal with has given me the opportunity to be at the birth of my first grandchild, I picked up my books and I flew to Florida last year, and it allows me to also put things on hold when life happens and there was a death in the family and I had to have surgery. It’s had a very positive impact on things, it’s the most flexible program I think I have ever been involved in and I highly recommend it to anybody who has a very busy stressful life because it works for you and it works when you want it to and you can do it anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It’s just an amazing program that you can mold to your lifestyle and it’ll have a positive impact on your life.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about going after their RN with Rue?
I would like to say that anyone can do the Rue program, but you have to be dedicated. You have to be able to set aside time to do the home study program and there’s not somebody that’s going to sit down and tell you “you have to do this now, you have to study.” It’s all up to you and it can work for anybody, but you have to have the dedication and the commitment to do it, and if you make the time to do it, it can work for you. Like I said, it’s an amazing opportunity if you take the time to do it. Put your foot down and dedicate yourself to get it done, I had a friend who is almost 62 years old, she should be getting ready to retire, but she’s not. She’s getting her RN, just because she wants to get it done, so you can do it. For everybody who is out there that thought that they would never be able to obtain their RN because you may not have a car, you may not have the money for transportation to get to a college or the college is too far away, there is hope. You can sit at home, you can get your degree online, home-study learning is there for you, all you have to do is reach out to it and obtain your dreams and dedicate yourself to a little bit of hard work and commitment and your dreams can come true. Mine did and I’m almost 50 years old so reach for the stars and obtain your degree.