How One Student Overcame Self-Doubt to Achieve Success in Nursing

While speaking to 20-year-old Nife Enis, you’d never guess that she was once plagued with overwhelming self-doubt and stress that clouded her journey to becoming a nurse. Despite hours of practical, hands-on experience, Enis often found herself questioning whether she would be able to finish school or if she was qualified to be in the program in the first place.

Her age amplified that uncertainty even more. One of her instructors mentioned that Enis and her peers were some of the youngest people she had ever taught, a comment that constantly played in the back of Enis’ mind. Overcoming this self-doubt was not easy, but Enis says a mix of prayer, venting and family support kept her going. 

“[What helped was] knowing that it’s okay to vent and cry sometimes,” she explains. “I also had a good support system to always say, ‘You got it,’ ‘You’re smart,’ ‘Just keep going.’”

Enis’ experience is not unique by any means, especially for students like her who are enrolled in high school and their local career center at the same time. Born and raised in Lima, Ohio, Enis attended Lima Central Catholic for high school, a time during which she was dually enrolled at Lima’s Apollo Career Center. Enis was motivated to continue her nursing education following her high school graduation, which led to her transfer into Apollo Career Center’s adult-education program.

“It was very rigorous,” Enis says. “It was very demanding. There is a lot to do, because you have tests every week, you have homework, you have clinicals and then clinical homework, all these things.”

Enis graduated from Apollo Career Center in 2023 as a Licensed Practical Nurse, and she now frequently returns to her alma mater to encourage the health-science students who now occupy the seats she once did. Enis shares her story and strategies she employed to help her achieve success. For one, she learned that keeping organized with schoolwork during the week allowed her to set aside a full day for herself each weekend, which helped her strike a balance between a busy school schedule and taking care of herself.  

“On the weekend, whether it be a Saturday or a Sunday, I would just put everything away and find time to do something that I like to do,” Enis says. “Whether it be watching a movie, going shopping or talking on the phone with friends. Just something to get me away from it for a moment.”

Apollo Career Center offers more than 30 programs, including both part-time classwork and full-time programs. The school offers both training and certifications for students looking to take that next step in their education. As she delved into the nursing program at Apollo Career Center, Enis began tackling more hands-on work and gaining real-world experience. 

“We had clinicals all year,” Enis says. “They would take us to nursing homes and hospitals, and we would [practice] so many different skills. We would do hands-on care. We went to the ER. We went to the labor and delivery unit.”

The clinicals were particularly nerve-racking as Enis recalls feeling unsure about whether they would ease her into it or if they would jump right into practice. Everything worked out as she began gaining confidence administering IVs and medications to patients, just two of the many skills she developed through these experiences. 

Enis’s nursing-school peers, many of whom were her friends from Lima Central Catholic, also worked together to uplift one another when they felt overwhelmed and discouraged. The instructors offered encouragement as well. Enis recalls one of her teachers saying, “With the amount of time you spend wondering if you can do it, you could’ve done it already.”

Setting realistic goals about attendance and grades also helped Enis when feelings of doubt crept in. Her mother played a pivotal role as a support system and source of motivation to keep going when the coursework turned difficult. 

“My mom is also a nurse, and I’ve just seen what she’s done and how much she enjoyed her job,” Enis says. “People would always come up and say, ‘Oh yeah, I know your mom. She was so nice to me.’ That gave me some inspiration. I want to make a difference like that too.”

Enis remembers a shift during her second semester of nursing school, when things started to click into place.

“I found I had more confidence in my test taking, and I was getting better grades,” she says. “So that’s when I was like, ‘Okay, you got the hang of this. Just keep going.’”

Today, Enis works as an LPN at Springview Manor, an assisted-living facility for seniors in Lima, and attends Rhodes State College in Lima, where she will be starting classes to become a Registered Nurse in January 2025. The field experience Enis received through Apollo Career Center, which took her to a multitude of different locations throughout the area, helped her feel prepared when it came time to look for a job after graduation. 

“As an LPN now, I feel like my job is definitely hard work but very rewarding,” Enis says. 

She plans to graduate from Rhodes in summer 2026 and hopes to eventually work as a nurse practitioner in pediatrics.

When Enis returns to Apollo Career Center to speak to current students, she shares with them that the coursework can feel challenging, and that is a normal part of the learning process. 

“In the beginning, it’ll feel like a lot. It’ll feel like none of this is clicking or making sense, but it will,” Enis says. “[I tell them,] ‘You guys probably don’t really know each other well right now, but you will, and you guys being there for each other makes such a huge difference.’ … ‘Know that the teachers really do have your best interest at heart and that they’re doing these things so that you know what to do when you go to work.’”

This story ran in the Winter-Spring 2025 issue of College 101.