Anthony Brooks

It just wasn't part of the family conversation.

And in fact, when she was 12, the school she was going to asked her to choose whether she was business bound or college bound.

And Natalie told me it was a choice that just left her completely dumbfounded.

But Natalie was also a bit of a rebel and a risk taker.

And after high school, she takes off on a trip to Europe.

She traveled to Spain.

She met an Irishman with whom she fell in love.

And eventually they returned to the Boston area, got married, had a couple of kids.

But it turned into sort of a hard life for them.

Money was tight.

They both worked at low paying jobs, living paycheck to paycheck.

And after about 12 years, the marriage was in crisis.

And then her husband dropped a bombshell.

So at 41, she's got two sons aged five and nine and no college degree.

It is.

But Natalie is resourceful.

You know, she juggled multiple part-time jobs, including waitressing and office work.

Then she joined a support group for families dealing with divorce.

And eventually, she became a volunteer facilitator and discovered that she was pretty good at it.

And despite the fact that she spent her whole life convinced that she wasn't smart enough to go to college, in her mid-40s, she makes the decision to go to college and pursue a degree in human services.