23

 When I was 23, I was working full-time in the residential program at a private school for children with autism. I thought I would take some time before I started taking classes again, but I took one class the spring after I moved to Boston (Including Learners with Special Needs with Elizabeth Fleming) and I was hooked. My workplace was also very generous with education. They offered a Masters program in special education (severe special needs) through Simmons College and one in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) through Northeastern University. Classes were on site and only 200 bucks out of pocket. The pay was crap, but the training and support was fantastic. The work could be stressful, but it helped that most of the people that worked as a level I or level II teacher were young women, like myself, who had recently finished their undergrad and moved to Boston. Whether it was laughing at the absurdities that came up in our work, helping dig each other's cars out after a shift in a snowstorm, going for margaritas across the street, going shopping, going to a Red Sox game, or going dancing in Boston, we were able to find humor and laughter in everything. Over the course of four years, we got to see each other go through first dates and heartbreaks, online dates, birthday celebrations, changes in position and changes in residence, and eventually, graduation, marriages, professional jobs, and even children. SHR for life!