12/17/2025
I did it. I graduated with my Master of Science in Nursing in Education and Leadership—a degree rooted in two things I am deeply passionate about: teaching and leading others well. This journey didn’t just earn me a title; it shaped me into a stronger director, educator, and human.
I completed this program as a mom to a 1.5-year-old. Maggie was born just two weeks after I started. During this same season, I stepped into a director role—learning how to lead teams while learning how to lead my own growing family.
Along the way, life didn’t slow down. I went through a divorce, became a single mom, and had to balance parenting, leadership, clinical hours, coursework, and grief—all at once. This degree mattered to me. It was part of a long-standing goal. I didn’t become an NP by 30 like I once planned—but I came damn close, and I reached this milestone before that timeline closed. Growth doesn’t always follow the path we imagine, but it still counts.
I am endlessly grateful to my friends and family who showed up—sometimes with encouragement, sometimes with childcare, sometimes with grace. Thank you to the last-minute babysitters who made clinicals possible. Thank you to the instructors who challenged me, supported me, and believed in me when I was stretched thin.
So to anyone standing at the edge, wondering whether to go back to school, to chase the thing that keeps tugging at you—this is for you.
We are all individuals with our own goals, dreams, and timelines. My advice is simple: do it.
Do it scared.
Do it happy.
Do it with limited support or with a full village behind you.
Do it for yourself—no one else.
Because the sacrifices are real, but so is the growth. And the journey shapes you just as much as the destination.
Courtney Taber, RN, MSN
Yeah… that has a damn good ring to it.
Two years. A lot of hard days. A lot of resilience.
And I am so incredibly proud of myself.
