Ball rolls down a more rewarding path
The desire to help others is what brought one man back fulltime to college to begin a new career.
“Being able to help people one-on-one is going to bring a lot more satisfaction to my life,” said Bill Ball, nursing major, about why he chose to leave the automotive service at a car dealership. Ball attended Kirkwood part time for two and a half years and enrolled fulltime in 2007.
Ball was selected as one of Kirkwood Community College’s outstanding students. He and wife Debbie, of 23 years, will both graduate from the nursing program in May.
Ball said, “Debbie has given me a lot of support and motivation.” Ball also keeps involved with son Aaron, who is 21. Aaron is a waiter at IHOP, plays the bass guitar and at heart is into band, according to his father. One of Ball’s goals is to find his specialty in the nursing field and excel in it.
“If you’re going to be good at what you do you have to be honest to yourself,” he said. One way he gains experience in different areas of nursing is by working at the hospitals. There, he said, they give him the opportunity to work in different types of nursing jobs.
In the coming years, Ball explained, there will be a shortage of workers in the health care industry, which reinforced his desire to change careers.
In the little free time he has to himself Ball said he enjoys riding his motorcycle around town and reading John Grisham books.