Growing up I felt like I had accomplished a lot in my life. I owned my house, my car, my camper, my boat, and had always paid all my bills on time. However I found myself in a career I didn't enjoy; I was unhappy and acted accordingly. I was never home and when I had the chance I was tired and irritable. My family suffered the consequences of me working all the time. Even though I felt successful because of my resources, I was far from feeling prosperous because I was always working. I wanted to change careers so I could spend more time with my family, but I was afraid of change and afraid of losing everything I had worked so hard for. On May 21, 2014 my life changed forever. While I was at work I received a call from my daughter, she was screaming on the phone so loudly I could barely understand what she was saying. "Darling slow down" I said, what's wrong? There was no doubt about the words I heard coming out of his mouth the second time: “Mom, I'm scared! Our house is on fire!” The next two weeks were tough, but I realized that losing everything I owned was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. It taught me how strong and resourceful I am, which gave me the confidence to change my life. I drove home as fast as I could only to see everything I had worked for turn to ash. I remember feeling like my stomach was tight as I ran out the office door, jumped in my car and drove home, I'm sure I was breaking some speed limits, but I didn't care. All I could think about was getting to my kids and my home. When I turned onto my street I saw fire trucks with lights flashing and fire hoses flowing everywhere, there was also a TV crew taking videos and photos. As I got closer I could see f... half the paper... unhappy again. That's when my husband learned that I wanted to work in radiography because it combined my three favorite subjects; science, mathematics and art. We moved back to Fort Smith and I enrolled in college and started in the fall of 2015. During one of the most chaotic times in my life, I discovered that I could stand up and face a dire situation on my own. This made me feel like a completely different person; I felt like a person capable of anything and who made changes in my life. Today my family and I are much happier. Losing everything I owned wasn't the worst thing that happened to me. I learned what was truly important and discovered new things about myself. I found my inner strength, discovered how resourceful I am, and gained the confidence I needed to change my life for the better. I lost a lot, but I gained much more.