I’ve just completed my second year of nurse training, but my journey began many years ago. I’ve always been known amongst friends and family for being both a deep thinker, and a little eccentric; I have a natural tendency to dig deeper and resist the status quo. I had the “6 Cs”, as we all do to varying degrees, but I believe my questioning nature was key to developing them. I would rather show than explain how I feel this happened, so what follows is narrative, rather than analysis.

My parents split when I was three, and in a decision practically unheard of in the seventies, custody was awarded to my father. My mother’s lack of emotional stability was cited as the main reason, something I was more reminded of by people other than herself. I accepted this and got on with growing up. What seemed like an outward course leading away from childhood began.