I became employed with my current company after high school in 1995. I'm a manager and make decent income for the area I live ($65k). It provides for the basic and some extra. I have a wife and a daughter. My wife works part-time but that income is mainly for her to send back to family in the Philippines. I hate my Management position, but it is retail so it is either be a manager or make $8 an hour. I became very inactive in the JW religion at 18 and completly out at age 22. Leaving at an early age allowed me to explore a more normal life and therefore I did earn a Bachelors in Business at a state university.
I want to pursue a career in nursing. My college offers an accelerated BSN program that would only take 15 months. However it is highly competitive (500 applicants and they accept 30). The college also offers a MAT in special education for those with degrees in other fields. My father was a school teacher for 30 years and now has a comfortable retirement. The problem as most know is teachers make very little. In fact even with a Masters degree in a needed teaching field (Special Education, Math, Science) the starting pay is only $38,000 in my state. In some adjacent counties it is as low as 33k. The likely hood I would be accepted on my first application to the nursing program is remote. I really want a new career and in a field where I can help people. I'm just nervous to quit a job I held for 19 years that supports my family even though I hate every aspect of the position.
Anyone else made a career change and face similar anxieties?