It was a new year, January 2001. It was the year that changed my life.I was plodding along thinking the path of my life was plotted. My daughter and I were living in Machias, she a junior in high school, me a waitress. One of my coworker's mother was starting an EMT class and needed one more student to make it happen. She asked me if I was interested (it was free), so I said sure. Now at the time, my daughter was 5 months pregnant and I was working 70 to 80 hours a week to support us. I had no idea what I was getting into and if I had would I have continued? To this day I am not sure. An EMT class is not easy by any stretch of the imagination and I am an overacheiver by nature. So now I have made a decision to deprive myself of 10 or more hours of much needed sleep a week. I gave the class 100% and the longer it went on the more I loved it. We had a student teacher (who turned out to be my mentor through my career rise) who was so enthusiastic about it there was no way not to be caught up. So I finished the class, passed my state exams, and off I went. Within 2 weeks I had given notice at my waitressing job and knew this was what I was meant to do. I was 38 and finally had made a career choice, not just working a job to survive.