
Ever since my daughter was a young child- maybe five- she started talking about studying marine animals to save their environment. We smiled, bought her books on sea creatures, and thought it was sweet how much she cared about the ocean.
The years passed. Filled with dreams, she took swimming lessons right up to lifeguard status, got exemplary school grades, and prepared for her future. Then fate stepped in and gave her a beautiful baby boy.
He became her focus, and again she worked hard, doing everything she could to give him a happy, healthy life. But the dream wouldn’t die. She applied to several universities while working two jobs and was admitted to the University of Victoria where she took on two majors: science and biology with an end goal on marine biology.
Once again fate stepped in and gave her another challenge to overcome- her beautiful, healthy, happy son developed Type 1 Diabetes.
She had the added stress of learning how to give needles ( the Omnipod and Libre came later), take blood readings, and count carbs- he was seven.
I still don’t know how she managed, but her schooling didn’t suffer. She earned a Bachelor of Science with distinction
And was accepted to the Memorial University of Newfoundland for her Major in Marine Biology.
Health issues continued to plague both of them, and it hurt to see how discouraged she became, but she never gave up.
And now:
She’s been accepted into a fully funded PHD program in… New Zealand!

Is it any wonder this girl is the joy of my life, my inspiration, and my hero?
She’s overcome tremendous odds to follow her dream, and though she’s nervous of moving to the other side of the world and all that might mean for their health, she’s also determined to succeed. It just goes to show, if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen.
Her dad and I are so incredibly proud of her and wish her the very best! Just think, we’ll soon have a professor in our midst 🙂

JACQUIE BIGGAR is a USA Today bestselling author of Romantic Suspense who loves to write about tough, alpha males and strong, contemporary women willing to show their men that true power comes from love.
Jacquie lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and loves to hear from readers all over the world!
Free reads, excerpts, author news, and contests can be found on her web site:
http://jacqbiggar.com