An Ideal Candidate
Image: Wisdom Cards - Affirmations by Louise Hay
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m furthering my goal to share as much of my story, with as many people who will listen, by posting excerpts of my writings from my 10-week experience with the Speak For Success’s Women’s Leadership Institute. Today’s is another post from my application; my answer to the question:
What makes you an ideal candidate for this program?
I can’t adequately articulate the surreal sense I feel reading these words today, realizing I wrote my response just over three months ago; realizing that such a short window of time is the only buffer between my life now and my life then:
I’d pulled one of my final(!) all-nighters on that white leather couch that’s become a symbol of a dark, isolated time of my life (and the reason I am currently without a couch :-) ).
As I clicked “send”, I said a little prayer in my head: “I just need one positive thing to grab onto to help pull me out of this hole I’ve been lost in. I finally see which direction is up – please give me this opportunity to get myself back on solid ground and out of the darkness.”
Someone was listening.
It’s amazing what 10 weeks can do.
Ten weeks is enough to give someone back their life.
Why I was the Ideal Candidate:
On the surface, my adversities may appear to be different from those who have overcome domestic violence or substance abuse. However my past experience of living with a friend who was battling his drug addiction has helped me identify similarities in the challenges and stages of my recovery process.
Additionally, having encountered emotional and verbal abuse towards me in different relationships throughout my life, I recognized the circumstances that might drive a woman to remain in a situation where she is faced with domestic violence. It was finding myself perched on the top of that slippery slope that scared me into a wake-up call to seek professional help. As a result, I found myself at the start of the path that led to where I am today.
Because of these experiences, I understand what it’s like to walk around hiding a secret from my colleagues. I am familiar with the feelings shame and embarrassment and the accompanying sense of living a dual life. I was shielded from adding the complications of managing my mental health challenges to this, by the leave of absence my employer’s HR policies required me to take.
I’ve experienced life through the eyes of a jet-setting professional with full benefits and a disposable income that far surpassed my needs. I’ve also experienced life through the eyes of someone who feels powerless, paralyzed with fear, overwhelmed by basic activities that intellectually should not have been a problem to achieve.
I know what it feels like to line up outside a food pantry. I’m familiar with the frustration that results from navigating through social services hurdles, only to fall through the bureaucratic cracks for landing outside seemingly arbitrarily-defined demographics.
Like Leaping Lucy, I too shall soar!
These experiences do not make me an ideal candidate for your program. I am an ideal candidate for this program because I’ve molded these experiences to form my second chance at taking control of my life and to actively define the success I achieve.
Part of your program’s mission is to launch a national program to empower more women to reach their potential in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Investing in my future will provide you with one more person empowered to be a leader, role model and a voice towards helping you achieve that goal.
I’ve been fortunate to overcome adversities including my untreated ADHD, learning disabilities and mental illness, to achieve financial success. Having gained the knowledge and support to better manage these same adversities, can only increase my potential to surpass my prior accomplishments and lead to my true success.
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