I just gave birth to a little girl, she’s 4 months old. There were some scary moments when she was born but I still made it to school the next day! She was born Sunday morning and I was in school on Monday. I had to go, I had an exam on Tuesday so I couldn’t miss it!
Back in Europe, all I ever wanted to do was be a lawyer. Then, I came to Canada – 3 years of law school, 4 months short of graduation. I never made it to law school here because of money and everything else. Plus adjusting to life in Canada was a challenge. It’s still a challenge and I’ve been here for 21 years. I’m constantly being told that I have such a strong accent. I lost a couple of jobs because apparently I have a heavy accent. I’ve been told: ‘Can I speak to someone who speaks English?’ I really thought I spoke English but, hey, to each their own.
I’m a real estate broker. I’ve been in real estate for 13 years and a broker for 11. I own a company, but real estate is one of those fast disappearing dinosaurs because people try to buy and sell on their own now. So, I started looking back into law school. But that wasn’t really attainable because I have a 6-year-old daughter, and now a 4-month-old – let’s look into paralegal. That’s how I joined the program at triOS.
But, it’s quite an adjustment. I’ve always been there with my 6-year-old daughter; I’ve dropped her to school and picked her up. Now I don’t drop her off anymore and she’s having a hard time with that. With the new baby it becomes tiring at night, it’s a bit harder to find time to sleep. But, going through with this course motivated me to go to law school. I know it’s a long road ahead of me, but law is the only thing that I’ve really wanted to do. I know it’s a bit late, but it’s better late than never.
I’ve set a good example for my 6-year-old daughter, too. At first she used to complain about not wanting to go to school. But now she says: ‘Mummy, I have to go to school. You’re going to school too and you’re old!’