In the long run, I want to be a nurse. I'm going to do a part-time nursing course to start gaining the skills I need for this. At the same time, I'm going to get more experience as a carer. This will give me an idea of what I'm going to see and do when I enter the nursing sector, and it's something I already know that I'm good at.
Getting into work is important for my housing situation. In the last month, my family and I were evicted from our last home where we had been for almost 16 years. I had to find somewhere new for me and my two children. It took quite a while but we're finally settled in our new place where we can move forward.
I have a story about when I first realised I might be good at working as a carer. When I first came to this country I was doing a cleaning job. One day, on a very cold morning, I was going to work. I was waiting at the bus stop, shivering, when an elderly woman came to the bus stop and fell down. She didn't get up but no-one did anything. The bus had arrived and they just got on and left her! I stayed with her and called the ambulance, and then waited for the paramedics to arrive. Then I went to the hospital with her, called her family members and made sure things were ok before I left. It felt like the right thing to do.
Before I left the hospital, a paramedic asked me what I did for work, and I said 'I clean'. He told me I was in the wrong job, and that I should be a carer. His words left a huge impression on me. They were what motivated me. At the time I had just been thinking, somebody here needs to help this woman, but I realised later that I was the one who chose to help her.
It gives me a lot of meaning to care for others who are in need of this sort of support. I look forward to moving ahead with my career and my learning!