At 19, Samantha used to tell herself often, “why is this so hard?”. She felt her own mentality was the reason she found achievement difficult. But through a change in her self talk over the years, her mentality changed. Samantha recommends that you should try to improve your self talk. “Self talk is what guides you through life” she says. From a young age, she’s watched motivational speaker Les Brown, when no one was around to motivate her. Brown’s speeches changed her, giving her a better platform to work with. It helped her understand that other people struggle and that she was not alone. As she developed a better mentality, she was able to achieve her dream. A dream of going to nursing school and becoming a nurse. She graduated from Porter and Chester Institute in Watertown, Conn with her degree. She worked as a nurse in Connecticut for a couple of years. Seeing there were difficulties surrounding being a nursing home nurse, she switched to home care so she could better serve a patient on an individual basis, without drama. This shows what kind of person Samantha is, a go getter. A life change brought her to Vermont. When she first moved to VT, the pay in the nursing listings she received from the State of Vermont were very low, not enough to make ends meet. The crisis rates for work as a nurse were mediocre. Becoming a nurse in VT seemed to become a difficult task, until things took an unexpected turn. Thankfully, after having doubt that she wouldn’t find adequate pay, she got hired as a prison nurse in Vermont. The prison job was her best bet because it paid a little more so she could live. Getting this job was a big motivator for her, not only for the pay, she has faith that she can change the lives of the prisoners, seeing who she is. She is very happy that she can make a difference while doing what she loves. From this you can see that, at a young age, we may be unmotivated to accomplish anything. Hopefully this story will point you in the right direction that life has challenges, but we have to push through and find that motivation. Whether it be a motivational speaker like Les Brown, or just a kind word from a good friend. If Samantha can do it, you can too.