I was born in Anjou, Québec (Canada), from a francophone mother and an English-speaking father originated from Guyana. My father turned to be an adept of illegal activities and he was abusive to our family, which eventually landed him in prison. I was 2 years old when I lost contact with him. My mother became the center of my universe and I was hers. It was not perfect, but we made it work. Until the day years later when our lives changed permanently. I was 7 years old when my mother had a stroke that left her paralyzed. Before I could fully understand what was going on, we no longer had an income, which forced us to move into low-income housing. My life had changed for the second time in such a short period of time and I was about to be taught the art of resilience. I started having behavioural issues and learning difficulties, was expelled from 4 different schools and had some juvenile troubles with justice. That added to my humiliation as a teenager with no paternal figure, whose mother happened to be mute and paralyzed, and who faced racism frequently, I was too shy to be able to speak up. Even in school I never participated in any public speaking activity. That was my life. Until I had a wake-up call and decided to change my destiny...