My son has indicated more than once that he doesn't want to be a nurse when he graduates from the nursing school he's attending. Why then, am I wasting money on his education and putting up with his incessant complaints? I know it has nothing to do with a nurse's cap because men aren't required to wear them.

He wants to be an entertainer

Ever since he was old enough to talk, my son (Jon) has wanted to be an actor. I don't remember exactly when it was (before the age of 10), but I even put him through an introductory acting class. At the end of the course, the instructor told me that Jon had no acting talent whatsoever.

Jon took drama classes in high school, thinking his talent would improve. It didn't. Perhaps it was because his acting idols, the ones he tried to emulate, were actually characters portrayed by Jim Carrey and Jim Varney (Ernest P. Worrell, you know what I mean?). It doesn't matter because now he doesn't say "actor" anymore. He says "entertainer".

I told him, since he'll be 24-years old soon, that time was running out (it isn't of course, but why let him keep dreaming an impossible dream). He still has no talent.

Health-Related Professions, based on Nursing

I've been trying to guide the poor boy for as long as I can stand it. I've mentioned to him that having a nursing degree (a Bachelor of Science, by the way) doesn't mean he has to be a nurse. He can use that degree to follow a different health-related career path.

All one has to do is look at all the opportunities available to people with degrees in the health professions to see what I'm talking about. He could do medical administration, become a well-paid caregiver, or any number of related things. Anything except the US military, of course, because he has asthma and they won't give him a waiver for that as an adult.

I still think he'll end up being a nurse

God, I hope the girl he likes doesn't read this, but she probably already knows that he's hung up on her. She's another student at the same college and actually a neighbor of ours. I can't get the boy to do hardly anything for me, but if she sends him a text message, he's gone like the wind. If she says "jump", he asks "how high?"

If she reciprocates his feelings, I'm 99 percent sure that they'll both end up in the nursing field together. Such is the power of love. If you're a neighbor or relative, please don't mention it to her. She's told him they were just friends and I don't think he's ready to be rejected… again.

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