My life

“I always wanted to be a mental health therapist. Ever since high school, I've enjoyed encouraging people and giving them hope. But I lost my way. I got caught in a world of addiction. I lost ten years of my life to drugs. I stopped when I became pregnant with my child, but by that time it was too late to go back toschool. I started working as an office manager. I never completely lost my dream. But I just put it on a shelf for thirty years. Then five years ago I took it off the shelf. I heard a lady in my choir talking abouthow she enrolled in community college. I drove there the very next day. I was so nervous when I filled out the application. I was so nervous the first day of class.All the old voices were telling me: ‘You never finish anything.’ But I said ‘fuck you’ to the old voices. And Istarted getting A’s. On my first test, I got the only perfect score in the class. I graduated at the age of 50. I got my Masters at 55. And just last night I completed a mental health first aid course. I’m so close now. There’s still fear there. I used to be afraid of it never happening. Now I’m afraid of it happening.The old voices try to come back sometimes. They tell me: ‘You can rest,’ or ‘You’ve earned a break.’ But I’m not stopping this time. Somebody out there is waiting for me to finish because they need my help."