Good Learning Anywhere is pleased to announce that Deb Hallet is our November Learner of the Month!
Upon receiving notification that Deb won this award, her mentor Nida, asked her the following questions:
1. What advice do you have for someone thinking about upgrading their skills?
2. How did you start? Did you face struggles?
3. What is your greatest achievement?
4. What are you goals for the future?
Here was Deb’s reply in her own words.
My advice to anyone who is thinking about improving their skills would be to just do it. The only way you can fail is if you don’t try. There is no point putting it off. Also, you are never too old to learn something new.
It took me quite a bit of time to get my life together. I have had the same goals since I was a child. I am now 49 and had not even started to work towards them. I am a survivor of both physical and sexual abuse. I spent most of my life in a drug induced state of numbness. I felt a little defeated, like I had completely wasted my life. Then I decided that there was no point in wasting more time regretting the past. It was time to move on. I gave myself a break and decided I should just give myself some credit for having survived the life that I had lived. I am who I am because of it. While having addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder has wreaked havoc in my life, it has also made me a stronger person. So I got clean and dusted off my childhood goals and dreams and thought “why not me?” I actually started by getting my grade 12 through Career Edge. I knew I needed to upgrade my computer skills as well as raise my level of self-confidence and learn how to organize my time. When Career Edge suggested Contact North and Good Learning Anywhere, I was a little interested. When they called me and started to let me know what classes were available to me, I got very excited. I couldn’t believe how well the courses suited my needs!
I would have to say that my greatest achievement was deciding not to waste more time with regretting things I can’t change and instead both enjoying my life now and looking toward my future. I still have a life that I can live and I plan to make good use of every bit of it!
One of my goals that I am now working toward is to become a self-employed dog trainer. I have done a lot of this in the past but only as a hobby. Eventually I would like to train dogs for PTSD service dogs. I know how much it helped me to have to care for animals and to have their non-judgmental love and support in my darker times. I really think these courses are going be beneficial in achieving that goal. They have helped me to focus on attaining my goals one step at a time. I will always be grateful for the support I have received from Good Learning Anywhere. You guys are a lifesaver.
Congratulations Deb!