It wasn’t planned.

The path that led Candice Retas from an interest in studying music and the arts to a career in nursing was one that just unfolded.

“I definitely did not map this out,” Ms. Retas, 26, said with a laugh. “It was kind of one step at a time.”

Actually, it was one credential, one academic building block at a time.

The first was the associate degree from Nassau Community College that Ms. Retas, who is from Elmont, N.Y., earned in 2012.

“I’d originally wanted to have a career in music and painting,” she said. “But then I took this biology class and really liked it, and did well in it.”