I had been a stay-home mom for eleven years when my ex-husband left me. My three boys were 10, 8 and 4 years old, at the time. When I started to look for a job, I had to face the fact that I had no work experience, not to mention I had no college education. Of course, I knew how to change diapers, but that wasn't needed in the office place.

I was 28 years old and I had to compete with these younger girls who had college degrees and experience. I think what was harder than that, was the fact that I had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.), just two years prior to that. In fact, that's why my ex-husband and I split up. He couldn't handle my illness very well. The issue I faced was, do I tell my employer I had M.S.?

After the first couple of interviews, I seen that I wasn't getting any response. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that I had no experience or if it was because I mentioned M.S. I decided that I would not tell them about my illness. I would get in and prove myself, so maybe they would accept it. Within a few weeks, I had to make a decision between two different jobs. I think I made the better choice.

The lady that hired me took me under her wing. She was about 20 years older than me and was once a single mom looking for work herself. She raised her two children by herself and had to be the sole provider also. She became my mentor. I seen that she was finally happy and all of the chaos had calmed down in her life. I thought that it would happen for me someday also. At least it gave me some hope.

After I had worked there for about a year, she called me in for my one year review. She mentioned that she had interviewed thirty-six people before me for my position and I was the only one who had no experience. I was very surprised and I asked her what made her hire me. She said that there were so many girls coming in, demanding a certain pay rate, telling her what they expected and listing the things that they wouldn't do. When I came in, she saw a lady who, not only wanted to work, but really needed to work. She also figured that she could train me the way that she wanted. It did work out very well and we were a good team.

She taught me so much about the office place and about life in general. She had the most amazing way of looking at things. She even brought my self-esteem up. When I started there, I didn't even know how to work the copier or the fax machine. The first time that I had an episode

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