HarvindHumans of SPEAK: Meet Nancy
I was born in Venezuela and came to Portugal with my family when I was 8 years old. Growing up I had a happy childhood. Back when I was in Venezuela, I didn’t have much of my family there, only my mother, father, and sister, but that was more than enough for me. My parents gave me and my sister all the love and attention, which compensated for the absence of the remaining members of our family. When we arrived in Portugal we met new friends, we were with our cousins, uncles, and grandparents. It seemed like we had started a new phase of our lives.
How does my life look like today?
Currently, I’m living in Aveiro. I’m married, I have a beautiful daughter, I have graduated, and I’ve been working in an industrial association for 20 years. I love what I do! I am a project manager and a recruiter. Moreover, I have also traveled a lot, visited many beautiful places and I’ve had the opportunity to meet new cultures and traditions. Through my travels work and sports, such as Crossfit, padel, and running, I have met a lot of people in my life. These people have taught me many things which have allowed me to grow more and more.
Regarding languages, I speak Portuguese and Spanish very well. I’ve had the opportunity to improve my confidence in terms of my English in 2020 by joining SPEAK, during the early stages of the pandemic. Before that, whenever I was abroad, my husband would speak for me in English. This is not a marketing statement, it is true. SPEAK doesn’t know how important they have been in developing my confidence in English, speaking-wise. For example, this summer I needed to speak in English many times, and I was able to without fear. I studied English for 7 years, but I could never speak without fear.
I can say that there are some key moments that have shaped my life:
Some key moments in my life were when I graduated, when I started working in AIDA, when I started doing sports like CrossFit when I met my best friend, and finally but not least, when I became a mother.
The biggest challenges I’ve been faced with in my life have been about my inner growth, being a better person, worker, and better mother.
Something I have learned from my life experience is…
That you can reach what you want in your life with perseverance, humility, being continually open to learning about yourself and others around you, and understanding what is required to reach these goals.
If I had to give advice to anyone based on what I have learned in life, it would be to try to be humble, honest, true, and always persevere.
I don’t know what the future holds for me… but I want many things in my life.
Would you like to know more inspiring stories from our community? Check out Rabea’s Humans of SPEAK story, he is from Syria and shares his life story as a refugee.