Natalie describes a difficult life growing up in a large family with a mother who was not well and did not have time to spend with her children. "We had it hard. My mother had five of us. My mother was quite sick all her life. It was very difficult. She had cancer. She had open heart surgery. She had migraines. She was 42 when she passed away." At 16 years of age, Natalie severed all ties with her family, with the exception of her younger sister who has special needs. Natalie held various low-skill jobs including chambermaid, waitress, cook, and sales positions before she was married. After she got married, her husband brought in a steady income and she did not have any financial worries. Fear of poverty, however, kept Natalie trapped in a violent situation. She says she had never planned to be living in a low-income situation, but she knew that leaving her husband and getting out of her marriage was the right thing to do for her and her sons even if it meant going on public assistance.

Natalie understands that leaving her husband precipitated her situation, but she considers it to be temporary. She takes her own initiative to try to get out of poverty and to give her sons "what all children deserve." Her life resolves around her two sons: "I try to give them …what they need and then some because I didn't have it growing up." Natalie plays a strong role in encouraging her younger son: "You don't know how to read? Oh yes you do! You're learning to read. Oh yeah. It takes time. Remember what I said practise and practise and practise and it gets better every time you practise."

Similar to Natalie, Michelle also recalls limited involvement of her parents in activities to prepare her for school, "Uh I didn't know much in grade 1. I didn't know my numbers, my letters, nothing. Uh my mother didn't teach me." She admits that she does not know what to do with her own children since she has no role model from her childhood. Michelle explains, "That's why I found it difficult, when my kids were in school. When I started doing homework with him, it was hell! I yelled!" Dedicated to her family, Michelle indicates that her prime motivation for going back to school is a recognition that she does not have the skills to work with her children and she "need[ed] something because [she] just wouldn't have been able to handle it." Now, after having completed some parenting courses and academic upgrading, she believes it is much easier working with them; she feels she has acquired some of the skills that are needed.