Kim's Story

Kim came to the Inn when she was 17 and a senior at Olde Columbine high school.   When she and her stepfather got into a violent fight, the police officer who investigated suggested the Inn Between (Inn).   Because Kim was tired of the fighting and since she was working at that time she felt like she could support herself she decided to come live at the Inn.  She was referred by a counselor at the City of Longmont Children and Youth Resources.  In her family they believed you had to get married in order to leave home.  She did not want to end up in an unhappy marriage just so she could get out of a bad situation.

Once at the Inn she decided that she did not like Olde Columbine and dropped out.  She started studying at Adult Education.  During this time she found that she had earned all her credits necessary for her high school diploma and started taking classes at Front Range Community College.  Kim did not like high school she felt she was too responsible and could not relate to her peers.  She says she hated English classes even more so she decided to take the required college English classes that she needed in order “to get them over with”.   Kim remembers her English teacher quoting Thomas A. Edison who said “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration” (Your not born smart-but if you work hard and study a lot you can be smart).   This teacher inspired her to continue her education. 

When Kim graduated Adult Education she left the Inn and moved in with friends/roommates and attended the Community College of Denver.  She found that she loved college.  She felt much support there plus they had a really good tutoring center, she says she flourished in college.   After two years she was accepted to the University of Colorado in Boulder (C.U.) and once again found herself homeless at the age of 22 and moved back into the Inn.   She attended C.U. for 1 year and hated it.  She could not relate with other students, she felt they complained about things that were not important.  She says other students would complain because their parents would give them the wrong color of vehicle.  They would drive Hummers to school and she was struggling to pay her tuition.  She had a hard time at C.U. neither her mom nor her dad helped pay for her college.

After Kim’s bad experience at C.U. she left Colorado and moved to Huston, Texas.  She moved there because her dad lived there, but she did not like it, she says that it was too big, too much chaos, she did not do well there. At that time she did not know what to do with her life; she was working as an assistant manager at a retail store and after 6 months she decided to attend Laredo Community College and one of the reasons was because she found out they had a great nursing program and dorms!  She did the pre requisites required for nursing and also got a job as a Resident Advisor in her dorm.  She was a resident advisor for 2 1/2 years. She attended Laredo Community College for three years and received her Associates Degree in Nursing. 

Kim still did not like Texas; she says it was too conservative for her Boulder County liberal views so she moved back to Longmont.  Kim got a job in a hospital as a clinical nurse and hated it. She worked too many hours; it was a very fast paced position with a lot of stress.  She got to the point where she thought that maybe nursing was not for her so she left this job.   She applied at a clinic in Boulder where she had worked as a receptionist before moving to Texas, she had been applying for jobs everywhere.  Kim says they gave her the opportunity and hired her making her a Nurse Team Manager.  Even though she works more hours, it is less stressful, and she has weekends and nights off.  She has been at this clinic for 10 months and loves her job.

Kim says that she went into nursing because it is a good combination of biology and helping people.   She started college wanting to get a degree in Micro Biology.  During an internship she knew she liked the class work but did not like research because she could not talk to people.  She enjoyed learning and helping the community and this is why she got into nursing.  Kim would like to eventually get a Bachelors Degree in Nursing and hopes to get certified in Diabetes care.

Kim says that living in Texas gave her a different perspective.  She had instructors, men and women, who were Hispanic and she saw many Hispanic nurses.  She saw them help community member’s access services and overcome barriers.  She felt like she could associate with them.   She learned more Spanish especially the medical terms while she lived there.   Kim says that in all her studies and travels she realized that there is no place like the Inn that offers support to teens that cannot live at home. 

Kim says that the Inn Between was a good place to stay when she had no clue what to do with her life and was still in high school.  She says she is amazed that the Inn has a place for teens.  The Inn gave her more responsibility that she already had.  It gave her the knowledge that she could fully take care of herself.  She knows that teens do not need to live with their parents and put up with their abuse.  Kim says she is grateful for the Inn and does not know what she would have done if not for the Inn.