From Parking Lot Nerves to Purpose

Amelia

You know that moment where, um, you are sitting in your car in the parking lot, engine is off, key is still in the ignition, and your hands are just... like, gripping the steering wheel so tight your knuckles are turning white?

Tyrone Wigfall

Oh, man. I, I, I know that exact feeling. The dashboard light is glowing, you are staring at the front door of the building, and there is this voice in your head going, what on earth are you doing, man? You are crazy for trying this.

Amelia

Right! Like, who told you you could go back to school after ten years? Who allowed this?

Tyrone Wigfall

Yeah. It is that full pause before you open the door. And look, good morning to the whole Innovative family, to our adult learners, working parents, everybody tuning in across the community today. If you are sitting in that car right now, or you sat in it two weeks ago, we see you.

Amelia

We really, really do. Because, look, it is not just about showing up to a classroom, right? You are bringing a whole whole trunk full of life with you into that parking lot. You worked a eight hour shift, or a twelve hour shift, you packed three lunchboxes at six in the morning, you put your kids to bed, and then you are sitting there at eleven at night trying to figure out what a medical root word means while your brain is just fried.

Tyrone Wigfall

It is a heavy weight. It really is. People walk through those doors carrying this hidden fear that, um, maybe everyone else in the room is nineteen, straight out of high school, got all the time in the world, no bills, no kids, sharper memory, right? And you are sitting there thinking, I am too old for this, or I spent too long doing something else.

Amelia

Yes! That imposter syndrome will sit right in the passenger seat next to you and literally whisper every single reason why you should just turn the key, pull out of the parking space, and go right back home.

Tyrone Wigfall

It will. It will convince you that your delay was a failure instead of a setup.

Amelia

Mm. Say that again.

Tyrone Wigfall

It will make you think that every year you spent doing something else was wasted time instead of prep work.

Tyrone Wigfall

I mean, look, I, I had to learn this the hard way myself back in 2016. I was at Brookline College, getting my business degree, and, man, my body was just fighting me every step of the way. I was dealing with sickle cell crises, severe pain, sitting in hospital beds with IVs in my arm while trying to read assignments, and I remember looking around thinking, man, everybody else has got a clean run at this. Why is my path so messy?

Amelia

Wow. Yeah.

Tyrone Wigfall

I thought the illness, the delays, the hospital stays, I thought all of it was keeping me behind. But what I realized later, especially when we started the Innovative School of Health, was that my pain was actually my credentials. Living on the receiving end of care, knowing what it feels like to be scared in a hospital gown, that taught me more about healthcare than any business textbook ever could.

Amelia

That part. That part right there. Because when you have actually lived life, when you have had to navigate a health crisis with your own family, or you have had to manage a chaotic household on a shoestring budget, you bring something into a hospital room that you cannot buy in a textbook.

Tyrone Wigfall

You bring soul. You bring empathy.

Amelia

You bring intuition! You know how to look a patient in the eye and say, I got you, and they actually believe you because your vibe is real. You are not just reading a script from a nursing prompt.

Tyrone Wigfall

Exactly. That living, breathing experience is your superpower. It is not a handicap. The fact that you raised children means you already know how to deescalate stress under pressure. The fact that you worked customer service or retail means you know how to talk to people when they are having their absolute worst day.

Amelia

So how do you get out of the car, though, Tyrone? Like, practically. When that fear is just paralyzing and the program feels like this giant, four month or two year mountain?

Tyrone Wigfall

You do not focus on the mountain. You treat it like a single shift. In healthcare, when you go on shift, you do not think about the next three years of your career. You think about the next twelve hours. Or the next four hours. You take it step by step.

Amelia

Right, like, today I am just going to master this one blood pressure cuff skill. That is it.

Tyrone Wigfall

That is it! Today I am going to learn these fifteen medical terminology prefixes. I am not solving my whole life today. I am just winning this shift.

Amelia

Just win the shift. I love that so much.

Amelia

Can we talk about the lone wolf thing for a second, though? Because I see this all the time, especially with adult learners. We get so used to holding everything up by ourselves at home that we come into class and try to suffer in silence.

Tyrone Wigfall

Oh, the solo hustle trap. Yeah. People think asking for help means they are failing.

Amelia

It is a trap! You sit there quietly failing a quiz or struggling with clinical math because you do not want to bother the instructor, or you feel embarrassed that you do not get it as fast as the person next to you. Stop doing that! Drop the pride.

Tyrone Wigfall

Drop it completely. School is a team sport. Healthcare is a team sport. Nobody works a code alone. Nobody runs a clinic alone. If you cannot ask for help in the classroom, how are you going to ask for help on the floor when a patient needs you?

Amelia

Look at the person sitting to your left. Look at the person to your right. That is your squad. Exchange numbers on day one. Form the group chat. Study together over coffee or Zoom at night while the kids are sleeping.

Tyrone Wigfall

Absolutely. That is why we built communityish spaces at ISH. Education should hold you up, not knock you down. We want to hear the noise, we want you to ring the bell when you pass that exam, we want to celebrate every single win.

Amelia

Shout out to everybody doing it right now! Roll call! Shout out to the night shift workers who are coming straight from a twelve hour floor shift to sit in lecture at eight in the morning.

Tyrone Wigfall

Shout out to the parents studying flashcards at the kitchen table while the macaroni is boiling on the stove.

Amelia

Shout out to everyone who was told years ago that they were not college material, and here you are, proving every single one of them wrong.

Tyrone Wigfall

Courage is not sitting in that car with zero fear. Courage is having shaking hands, feeling your heart pound in your chest, opening the car door anyway, and going in to take the seat that belongs to you.

Amelia

Take your seat. You earned the right to be in that room.

Tyrone Wigfall

Go win your shift today.