AS I walked into the university lecture hall surrounded by students, I couldn’t stop myself breaking into a smile.
Today was the very first lecture of my nursing degree – and I was raring to get going.
It was a particularly special moment because I just couldn’t believe I was here, doing something I’d never thought possible for me.
I thought back to three years earlier. Then, my biggest dream had been exactly the same as it was today – to follow in my mum’s footsteps and become a nurse.
But I’d never found the courage to put myself forward for the training.
I was a size 26 and I’d convinced myself that working in the NHS wasn’t for me.
I imagined talking to a patient about being healthy, and them judging me… or worse, actually asking me how healthy my lifestyle was.
I hadn’t always struggled with my weight. As a teenager, I’d been fit and slim, and on practically every sports team at school.
Then, after I left, I stopped playing sports, spending my free time socialising with friends instead and my weight gradually crept up.
Anyone who knew me would have said how bubbly and confident I was, but as I got bigger, that cheery front was getting further and further away from how I truly felt about myself.
It wasn’t unusual for me to order two breakfast muffins from a fastfood restaurant, pretending to the cashier that one was for a friend.
Then, during my lunch break at the DIY store where I worked, I’d nip out to a bakery to buy at least three chicken pasties.
In my early 20s, I met someone and we settled down together.
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