Hi, Steve Patterson here, host of the debaters, the show where Canada's top comedians answer Canada's top questions like, is Winnipeg the best place to raise a family?

We're expecting to raise a little heck with this one, so don't miss it wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a CBC podcast.

Just a heads up that this episode contains discussions about child sexual abuse, suicidality, and domestic abuse.

Please take care while listening.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be a cop.

And then in high school, I wanted to be in a service.

I wanted to be a Marine.

And then it became being a nurse.

In 1994, Anna Vasquez was 19. And she had dreams.

And if you really look back to all those different professions, It all goes back to helping others.

Anna grew up on the west side of San Antonio. She was raised by a single mom who worked hard to

support the family, five sons and one daughter. And my mom would always tell me that she would

cry when she would leave us because she was so afraid that something would happen.

You know, her having to be at work at 4 o'clock in the morning.

Anna wanted to follow in the footsteps of a lot of her family members who worked in nursing.

She enrolled in community college right after high school.

But the financial pressures quickly added up.

Anna had to drop out during her first semester.

I ended up getting a job at a fast food restaurant, Little Caesars, you know, with the hopes of

getting back to community college.

The way I looked at it, it wasn't something that it was going to be permanent.

...