Originally from Fort Nelson, Christina Wolfe came to live in Williams Lake about nine years ago.
In Grade 8 at the time, Wolfe moved to the lakecity with her parents and three siblings.
Now 24-years-old, the artistically inclined young woman is in her first year of the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Williams Lake.
Wolfe's decision to pursue nursing came to her slowly, after she was researching different options. But her attraction to the profession likely came much earlier, she just hadn't really recognized it at the time.
When she was young, Wolfe called herself a "medical mystery child." She experienced a lot of issues with fainting, leading to years of doctor's appointments and multiple specialists as they tried to diagnose the problem. She spent years in the Children's Hospital and was "poked and prodded" over many years.
The time she spent in the hospital and in clinics returned to her years later, after her research into different professions, and she realized she knew first hand the important role health-care professionals can make in peoples' lives.
"I always had a fascination with the human body and helping people," said Wolfe.
She had been doing upgrading at TRU and asked about the LPN program, and found out she was one credit short to apply, with applications due in one month.
Wolfe jumped in with both feet, tackling the course and completing her application, nervous she was making the right choice.
But since then, she has completed her first semester of the program, which included some clinical experience at Age Care in Williams Lake.
She said her nervousness has faded and the experience so far has only helped solidify her decision to enter the two-year nursing program.
"It's been great," she said, adding the more she does the more she knows this is exactly where she wants to be.
Where she is, one quarter of the way to a profession she feels a strong pull to pursue, has been a fast journey, but one she wants others to know is achievable.
"If you work towards your goals and you really work hard, you can really achieve anything," said Wolfe.
"Things will be OK as long as you work towards that."
Besides a childhood spent in and out of hospitals, she also had an alcoholic father, which was hard on the family while she was growing up. Her dad is sober now, but things were tougher when she was younger.
Then, at 18-years-old, she had her first child, Audrey.
"She's my bestie," said Wolfe, of her daughter, now five.
Along with Audrey's younger brother Michael, nearly two years old, her children have been the motivation behind much of the work Wolfe has put in to get where she is today, hoping to build them a better future.
Audrey already introduces her mom as a nurse.
"Her excitement for it brings a smile to my face," said Wolfe.
While she had been looking at the Registered Professional Nurse program at first, she decided the move to Kamloops for two years with her young children and no family support there would be too much, so the LPN program was a good option.
"It's been a really fast process, but it's definitely been a positive thing," she said of the program so far.
She thinks of Williams Lake as "nice, quaint little town" and enjoys spending her spare time here with family or drawing and painting.
Wolfe said her two brothers, Daniel and Jonathan, and her mom Maggie are all still in Williams Lake, while her sister Aganetha now lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and her dad Jacob is based in Clearwater most of the time.
"Definitely childhood me would look at me now and be super proud that I've made it this far," she said.
