Because of chronic pain, the childcare job I had would not work for me as I aged, so I took NVME’s career planning course to help me identify possibilities that I wouldn’t find on my own. One of the career tracks I wanted to explore was behavioral health, and a college admissions counselor told me about a grant that allowed me to study cost-free.

Having taken the NVME course, I had the confidence to take a leap and try something new. My daughter, who was already at community college, saw how much I was enjoying it and switched programs herself! We had many classes together and that helped me immensely. We graduated together, then both went into the gerontology program on another grant. I kept furthering my education, ultimately earning a degree with honors from University of Southern Maine.

Working full time while going to school was a challenge, but going back to school gave me a great sense of accomplishment. My father was so proud that I was the first from his family to go to college.

After I graduated, I started as the director of an inclusion preschool and then moved to office manager. Eventually, my supervisor stepped down and I am now the executive director at my branch of the agency.

If it wasn’t for NVME, I’m not sure I would have ever found my true passion. I’ve got to tell you: this program was a life saver.