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DEBRA MICHAUDStrength is the word that comes to mind when referring to Debbie. She has a very special inner strength which has helped her meet many of life's challenges head on and emerge a winner. This strength is joined by resourcefulness and a capacity for hard work. Having suffered many hardships and ordeals, Debbie remains positive and motivated to help others. |
"My childhood was not a happy time. I was a victim. My mom was a bad alcoholic. She was very abusive both physically and mentally. The oldest one at home got most of the beatings; my turn came eventually. My dad worked away from home. He never saw how we were treated or anything. We never told him about what our life was like.
My oldest brother left home at 14. When he was gone my next oldest sister got the beatings. She was taken away by welfare when she was 12. That's when Dad found out what had been going on. My next sister was taken away when I was eight, then I became the target for abuse. By the time I was 15 I couldn't take it any more. I went to school after a beating from my mom and threw my books in a window. I was gone. From that point on I worked and supported myself; not great jobs, but work. At 17 I went back and took my younger brother away and helped him get a job in the bush camp where I was a cook. Much later, my mother had a heart attack and changed because she got the help she needed for her alcoholism.
Eventually I found work in a nursing home. I loved it. Although I didn't have any training I worked every shift, every job, and could do what needed to be done. I did this work for fourteen years. But one night on the midnight shift I asked "Why am I doing this for seven dollars an hour when I could become an R.N.?" I phoned AVC as soon as I finished my shift. I started in the BEAD program close to my home. At first I worked all night, went to class in the morning and looked after my son who was just a baby.
During the time I worked as an aide in the nursing home I was married. It was like marrying my mother. He was an alcoholic who beat me -- at least twice a week whether I needed it or not. Interesting isn't it, the way history repeats itself. My ex-husband killed himself a year after I left him. It's funny that I'm not nuts, but I'm not!!
Life looks better to me now than it ever has. I have a six year old son and a 17 year old foster son. After attending the BEAD program and finishing my GED (General Education Diploma) I went to a ten month computer course. That led to my current job at the Canadian Paraplegic Association. It is secretarial work and very interesting. I get to work with people and projects. This is only contract work though, so I have to see what happens after the new budget.
Going back to school made some changes in my life. I know more and have more insight into people. Plus, I feel more confident. There is more to studying than books, and I really think they should teach life skills at BEAD. It's a sacrifice, in a way, to study. You have to give up the 'party life' and become committed. If someone says you can't do it, get that person out of your life. These people will try to hold you back. Have only positive people around you.
A person would never regret going back to school. Even if you learn one new thing a day it is worthwhile. Anybody can do it. That's what BEAD did for me; it proved I could accomplish a goal. It wasn't the material I studied that prepared me for the future, but proving to myself that I could do it. The program was great. It got me to want to learn and not stop."