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Diana came to the YWCA Employment and Learning Centre knowing it was time to pursue her own dreams: becoming an administrative assistant, owning her own home, and taking vacations.

Working in a physically demanding job had become difficult for her after a recent surgery. Over the years, she had worked driving a school bus, doing pool technician work, and cleaning to help pay the bills. She had raised five sons and now had five grandchildren.

Diana worked diligently to complete her GED, getting extra help in math, and went on to take an administrative assistant training program. However, she faced anxiety on tests for required keyboarding speed. Working together with YWCA employment counsellor Wendy Coleman, Diana found inspiration, positivity, and unwavering belief.

She developed her resume to catch the attention of employers, and discovered her abilities were much stronger than she realized.

“I saw my ability was higher than I thought. After being out of school for a bit, while working, I still did well on the exam. I had a supervisory position which also helps my resume.”

Together Wendy and Diana strategized about how to increase her keyboarding speed in practice sessions, overcome the test anxiety to pass the exam, and get the certification required by employers.

“I have now accomplished getting my typing done by asking if they can take an average of our scores while typing exams, since a number of us get exam anxiety, and I am one of them,” said Diana. “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Not only did she succeed in getting the program evaluators to accommodate her own challenges, she received her diploma and completed her first interview for an administrative position.