I graduated from high school in the '70s, at the age of 17. A week after graduation, I started out in the world by going on job interviews to hospitals, companies, and nursing homes. I would have liked to have worked in clerical, but I was turned down, despite having a typing speed of 60-70 WPM. I went to agencies, and they would refer me to someplace else. I had been unemployed for four years when I was forced to go on welfare. Then I ended up in a mental institution, and was forced-medicated, put in my room for me to regain control, and finally sent to nursing homes to become a resident in them, and I had previously tried to become employed in them. I was in the hospital a total of seven times before I finally got my first job when I was in my mid 20s. It lasted only three months because of depression and other losses in my life. I went back into the hospital for another fifteen or sixteen times before I finally decided that illness would not get the best of me. In the 90s, I obtained a typing position and also a position doing work for charity, both paid positions. I've been doing the charitable work for fourteen years, and I had the typing job at a local newspaper for 17 years. For the past 15 years, I was in a psychiatric hospital only twice, for very short periods. It's been over three years now since I've been hospitalized, and I work as a substitute teacher. I love the kids, and they all like me too. I feel I've risen above a lot of my problems, with God's and friends' help. by Dove