Scott Sakall is one of the many Americans who decided on a career change because of the ailing economy. However his was a change that was a little less typical than engineer to teacher for instance. Mr. Sakall was a factory worker for 10 years who then changed to become a nurse. Although Mr. Sakall had many various careers in his past, he feels he’s finally found his calling in the field of nursing.

In eighth grade, Scott thought he wanted to be an accountant. During his one year in college at the University of Michigan, he was a pre-med student. The cost of going to school was too much to taken on at the time, so Scott then decided to work full time. He was working at a book factory for a while until he decided to go back to college to get that accounting degree. However, expenses became an issue again and decided to work a $20/hour job at a manufacturing plant. This was his position for a decade. Then in 2007 he got word that the plant was closing down. Thankfully he was given a 2 year notice of the close and so he used the time to figure out what his real passion would be.

Then came nursing. Scott went to a community college to talk to a counselor about career options. After a variety of discussions on what he felt his strengths were, the two decided that nursing would be a program that would be right up his alley. Scott then registered for a nursing program. “Working at NSK allowed me to pay off all debt and gave me enough notice to save money to prepare myself to be out of work for two years. I started classes immediately while I was working 84 hours per week.”

Scott was not going to let having a full time job effect what would be the next chapter of his life. He did research and found out that government financial aid was available to him. So with that and the money he earned working, he was able to pay for many of his prerequisites upfront. Finally, after the manufacturing plant closed down, he started up school full time and graduated with honors in 2008. On December 10, Allegiance Health hired Scott to be a full time registered nurse.

“I now have a lifetime career without the worry of being laid off or outsourced, and also have the opportunity to live and work wherever I want with the big demand in RNs throughout the country,” said a happy and confident Scott.

He still keeps in touch with his former coworkers who did not opt to get a degree in a stable and well paid field. According to Scott, “they regret not taking the opportunity to get a degree.” Scott says that he enjoys his job and actually enjoys going to work everyday. This is the joy of being a nurse, a field that is wanting for more and more people to fill positions all over the United States. Check out a nursing program today. Scott said it best: “I feel I am now making a difference and affecting people’s lives.”