There are so many things that I am and so many things that I am not. Yet if I had to answer the question “Who am I?” I would say the following. First and foremost, I am a human being. But also I am a woman, I am a mother, I am an educator, I am me. It is often so difficult to answer the simplest questions. Over my lifetime, I have discovered that it is the most simple questions that often lack answers. It is these questions that leave us clueless and thinking things over again and again.

Now, let me tell you my story from the beginning. I was raised in foster care since I was 9 months and up until I was 18 years old. Ever since I was a teenager I thought over and over about my future, my career, my life path. I did not want to be a puppet blindly guided by faith; not anymore, anyway. What is more, I made a firm decision that no matter what, after I leave foster care, I will be the one and only master of my fate. And I am proud to say that I kept this promise.

After I left foster care, I went on to become a teacher. It will be completely honest to say that I absolutely love my job. Engaging with other people is something I always enjoyed. In fact, I think it is my outgoing and extraverted personality that helped me make it through the challenging periods in life. If I had bottled up all my feelings I simply would not have survived. Now, this is to some extent an exaggeration, but keeping all of one’s emotions and feelings in is no use. Of course, I absolutely do not support destructive habits of acting out one’s emotions. At the same time, I am highly aware of the importance of expressing one’s innermost feelings to friends and loved ones. I am very lucky to have such people in my life: my friends from foster care and people whom I met over my life course have been kind to me. This knowledge makes me feel grateful every single day.

One of the most important roles in my life is being a mother to a one-year-old girl whom I love immensely. She is my sunshine and the love of my whole life. When she was born, I promised myself (and her) that I would be the best possible version of myself in our relationship. No doubt, I know how destructive it is to aim too high, so I always set realistic expectations for myself (and others) in personal and professional life. By this I mean being kind and not demanding too much of myself.

Importantly, when a woman becomes a mother it is so easy to become consumed by guilt if you feel like you are doing worse than expected. But, at the end of the day, whose expectations are these? In my opinion, the best possible way to raise a child is to be honest with yourself and her. When you are tired you should not be afraid to admit this; or when angry, or sad, or tearful, or happy. Actually, emotional intellect (EI) is one of the key happiness determinants in life.

When it comes to my professional goals, I hope that I can obtain a degree in child development or sociology in the nearest future. My subjects of interest include education, sociology, psychology; I also like creative arts and enjoy drawing, painting, am fascinated by interior design.

At the end of the day, it is my friends who inspire me to keep going through the hard times. I feel their love and support always. Importantly, I try hard to be a supporting and loving friend myself. In fact, I believe that our close relationships are the greatest gift we will ever receive in life.