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By the time most people are in their mid-to-late 50s, retirement is the next major milestone in life.
But for Aledo resident Kara Jones, that was the time she decided to pursue her bachelor's degree - her second bachelor's degree.
The Natchez, Mississippi native received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing on Dec. 15 from the University of Texas at Arlington, and in so doing accomplished a lifelong goal.
"This is something that I've always really wanted to do," Jones said. "I graduated from TCU a long time ago. I got my degree in kinesiology and worked as a clinical exercise physiologist, and I've had a long career. I was a corporate wellness program director, and I've worked in hospitals, so I've had a very diverse career in the healthcare industry.
"But this is something I've always wanted to do, and the time was just never right with life and children. My husband is a great support system, and he finally told me, 'You always wanted to do it, go do it."
Jones, 61, graduated from TCU in 1984, so when she decided to pursue her nursing degree, she had to retake a few prerequisites before entering the program in 2019.
"In the beginning, it was rough, because it's so different than how we did it," Jones said. "We went to class, and we had books, and now, 90 percent of what you do is online. So I had to transition to that way of thinking and really became a lot more proficient with the computer because I had to. So that was a challenge for me, but I had help along the way and guidance along the way. But yeah, it was night and day."
While Jones was older than most of her peers in the nursing program, the Aledo woman said her age also proved to be a great asset in certain respects.
"To some extent, being older and having the maturity and having my life experiences and having to persevere through roadblocks and things along the way worked to my advantage," Jones said. "I would say that 99 percent of the students are in their 20s and some are in their 30s, but I've really made a lot of friends and have a great support system.
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"We call it trauma bonding. We got to be real good friends really quick and supported each other along the way."
Being older served her well in dealing with a few of her professors as well.
"I've had some clinical instructors who were bullies," Jones said. "I've had a lot who were great and very helpful, but some that were very tough. I think with my age and maturity and experience, it's helped me persevere."
Another hardship Jones faced along the way was the sheer distance and travel time involved in obtaining her degree.
"I always knew nursing was tough," Jones said. "But I never expected it to be at this degree. I think it is the hardest undergraduate degree that you can get.
"I live in Aledo, and UTA placed one of my clinical rotations at Medical City-Plano. That was tough because I had to make arrangements."
Jones would stay with a friend who lives in Plano, spend all weekend doing clinical work, and come back to Aledo on Monday.
She then had a medical rotation where she was placed in Denton and would have to wake up at 4 a.m. to get out on the road.
Eventually, Jones' husband, Andrew, stepped in.
"You know how treacherous 35 North is," Jones said. "It gets dark and you can't see. I got caught in a really bad storm one morning, and I couldn't see, and I was really upset. I came home and told my husband and he said, 'From now on, I'm going to drive you.' I told him he didn't have to do that, but he said, 'Yeah, I do. I promised your daddy that I would take care of you, and that's what I'm going to do.'"
Andrew would wake up at 3:30 in the morning, take Jones to Denton, come back to Aledo, take their daughter to school, go to work himself, pick up his daughter after school and then drive back to Denton to pick her up at night, before driving back to Aledo.
But Jones got through it and will be starting her residency in February at Texas Health- Fort Worth, working as a palliative care nurse. Jones will sit for her licensing exam in January.
"From sun up to sun down I study, and review and do practice questions and make sure I understand concepts," Jones said.
Kara and Andrew have three grown children and a 16-year-old daughter at home as well as four grandchildren
Jones moved to Aledo in 1995 and started the very first personal training facility in Parker County in the year 2000 called Pro F.I.T.T. Personal Training.
She has volunteered with the Careity Foundation, which helps support cancer patients, and has worked as a corporate wellness program director, which was the job she was doing before she pursued her degree.
"My daughter is a NICU Nurse," Jones said. "We were talking and I said, 'Honey, think about it. You're going to be taking care of these precious little beings at their fragile beginning of life, and I'm going to be taking care of these precious beings at the end of life.'"
And Jones has a message for anyone who thinks they are too old to go after their own personal dream.
And Jones has a message for anyone who thinks they are too old to go after their own personal dream.
"I've always said, 'I want to do this, and I'm not dead yet,'" Jones said. "If that is your dream, and you want to go for it, go for it. You just take it one step and one day at a time, and don't let others or anything hold you back."
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