I had a dream I was afraid to say out loud. So I built it instead.
And if you're carrying one too, you're in the right place.
I carried a dream so big it felt embarrassing to say out loud. A doctorate. A career in anesthesia. A life that looked nothing like where I started.
I grew up in Benin City, Nigeria. I was a dancer, a student, a semi-finalist at Nigeria's Got Talent, in medical school at 17 — and then I boarded a plane to Dallas to join my father, and none of that came with me. I arrived with zero savings, sharing a one-bedroom in my dad's house and a Ford Focus with my sister. Immigration strips you down to the basics. I had to rebuild, piece by piece, in a place that didn't know who I used to be.
I worked as a CNA making $9.25 an hour. I did 16-hour doubles on Saturdays and Sundays, then went to school Monday through Friday. I earned my doctorate with a baby on my hip, studying at 5am, and there were mornings I cried in my car before clinicals. I wanted to quit more times than I'll probably admit. I never felt ready — I just kept moving.
Today I'm a DNP, CRNA, and PMHNP — but this isn't about the title. It's about what came after. The freedom to choose my mornings, be present for my son, and live a life I designed myself.
I didn't do this alone. My mother flew in to hold the baby at 4:30am so I could drive to clinicals. My husband became both parents in seasons I couldn't be either. And there were 5am parking-lot prayers — for wisdom, not wealth — that carried me when the math didn't. A village is not optional. It's the difference between surviving the season and being swallowed by it.
If you're carrying a dream of your own — this is where it starts to feel possible.
— Courtney
Still have questions? That's what the Corner is for.
From $9.25/hr CNA to DNP — the actual career steps, the setbacks, and what it costs to get to the other side.
What happens when you finally get to choose — your mornings, your time, your money, your life. And how to design it intentionally.
Marriage, motherhood, faith, village — built simultaneously, with help, and never pretending any of it was easy.
The view changes when you move.
You don't need to see the whole staircase. You just need to take the next step.
— Courtney
