Melissa Dittberner | Striving Further Through my Mistakes

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My Journey to #AchieveMore

There is a simple and easy answer to what drives me -my mistakes/failures in the past deeply drive me to become better daily. I dropped out of school in the 9th grade. I found myself in a rough relationship, with no skills and no education. On top of that, I am an addict and an alcoholic. Roughly 3 years after my second child was born, I found myself gaining the strength I needed to strive. I became a welder and a single mom. Times were tough but with some extreme grit, I kept moving forward. I landed a job welding in a factory. The long hours, hot working conditions and the management could have broken me but I was just learning how to live on the positive side of life. Day in and day out I pushed forward to make sure I could provide for my kids as a sole caretaker. The day I got fired (for riding a pallet jack, nothing serious but nonetheless a good reason to can me.) I literally skipped out the shop as if I almost immediately knew this day would change my whole life. No job and 2 kids who needed me was just the motivation I needed to go get my GED. This ignited my lifelong learning cascade. I am a lifelong learner as a sober, happy, founder of 2 charities and a professor in the Addiction Department with my Ph.D. My intrinsic motivation comes wanting to be a better me than I was the day before. I have found that takes dedication and real work. I am not afraid of that type of work. As a matter of fact, I am affectionally known by some as the determined German and my hashtag is #GEDtoPhD. With the work I do now, I have the ability to help others believes in their dreams while guiding them toward achieving them. I am a lucky human.

What Drives You to #AchieveMore?

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