It was many years ago, back when I was 18 years old and I wanted to learn to drive, but I know my father wouldn't allow it. So I made the decision to learn to drive on my own, without him noticing and that's how I started asking for people who wanted to help me in this new process.

I was studying in nursing school. The professors chose several students who had already passed their subjects and we should go join other groups to collect money to support underprivileged groups.

Among other things, in addition to doing vaccination campaigns in less populated places with difficult access to hospitals.

That's how I met the driver of one of the ambulatory transports. He took the girls and myself to the alcabalas to ask for the help we needed and then he took us to the villages for vaccinations. He was always ready to take us and pick us up.

So that week we became friends with the driver and I told him about my desire to learn to drive. He immediately offered to help me and the day after we finished our health collaborations, he picked me up to start my first classes.

At first everyone made fun of me, but soon enough I gained the confidence I needed to drive.

So my dear friend Luis Fermin helped me take my first driving lessons and he remained a great friend forever.

Then I graduated and my desire to raise money to buy a car grew stronger and stronger. Although I had to move to another state, far from my home, I managed to find a way to raise enough money to fulfill my dream within a year.

While in another state I met the man who would become my boyfriend while I was there. He continued to teach me driving lessons, and when he saw that I was almost ready, he gave me a book of instructions to take the driving test.

I read it many times, until I learned it all. Then in time he took me to the appointment to take my test. That instruction book was very helpful to me, all the questions on that test were in the booklet so I got my driver's license quickly. 

Of course, it was all just preparations because I still didn't have enough money to buy my car and life would give me other surprises before I could buy it.

My mother got sick, my brother calls me and tells me that she’s not well. I decided to go see what was wrong, I took my mother to the doctor and after many tests the diagnosis was cervical cancer.

I had to stop working in that town and decided to return to my city to attend to my mother in her therapies.

Together, we complied with her treatment and in the meantime, I arranged my résumé and took it to a health center that would soon open its doors, and there, after two months without work, I began to practice my profession again.

Soon after, I was able to save the amount that would allow me to make a payment to buy the car I wanted. As I was a minor, my sister was the owner of the car and in one afternoon they brought the car to the door of the hospital where I worked.

What a joy!

I had in my hands the first great achievement of my work, to work in several hospitals, to receive more money to be able to pay the monthly car payments and incidentally the expenses of my home.

My father almost had a heart attack when he saw that I bought a car. That was the beginning of my independence because my father could no longer exercise so much power over me. Now I had a car, a job, and responsibilities that I could cover freely without having to hide from him as I had done for so many years without his knowledge.

I learned to drive better and better. I was the first at home to buy a car even though I had two older sisters.

It was with great satisfaction that I organized myself to learn to drive. How I managed to study for my driving lessons. How in spite of adversities I was able to first meet my mother, who got better beyond all odds because she lived for 20 more years.

And then I was able to get a job again and continue saving to finish paying for my car, and within 18 months of graduating I was able to get my first vehicle.

All thanks to God's blessing that allowed me to go through the trials I went through and make it through, everything always by his hand.

Thank you for reading my posts. I hope that with these I can serve as an encouragement to not lose heart when we think we have lost everything, when we have to fight against adversity, because it makes us stronger to move forward.

I'm @gertu13 from Venezuela.