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Birth
I was born in the Sigulda General Hospital in Latvia, a week later than predicted via C-section -
First pet - cat
My grandmothers neighbours found some stray cats, one of them was adopted by my mother, which subsequently became my first pet. I remember the cat chasing me around the house for bullying him and I still have some scars left from this time. Even though we always didn't get along, it gave my the first tase of responsibility as a child and influenced my love of animals. -
First grandmother dies
My mother's mother died of breast cancer when I was about 5 years old. It was my first encounter with death, even though I don't remember much about her. She was also the last family member from my mother's side that we really had a relationship with. I do remember visiting her graveside to clean it up many times, and it became one of the few ways me and my mother would spend 1 on 1 time. -
Started 1st grade
I did not go to kindergarten, thus starting 1st grade was the first time I was ever around that many children my age. I took time to make my first friends, as most of the children in my class already knew each other. It definitely made feel like the odd one out and caused me to become a bit more withdrawn. -
Started music school
I don't remember exactly how, but I ended up in the music school tryouts at the start of the semester. I remember wanting to learn the violin, however the air instruments teacher suggested that I would be much more suited for the saxophone. Thus my parents made the decision for me to study the saxophone instead. One of many decisions that were made for me, despite my wishes. -
First time out of Latvia
My first ever trip outside the borders of Latvia was a trip to Norway with my music school orchestra. It was also the first time I had every spend a significant time away from my family, as I did not participate in any summer camps. I remember it feeling liberating to be given a bigger responsibility to be independent. -
Second grandmother dies
She passed at the age of 87 and was my last grandparent. With her death ended a long running feud between her any my mother, however a more serious drama erupted between her children that has split apart my family to this day. -
Finishing 9th grade and changing schools
At the time of finishing 9th grade I had to make the choice, whether to stay at my current school or apply for a spot at a gymnasium. My parents at this time were supportive of any choice I would make. After failing to get in the top 1 school in Latvia, I did get in the second best gymnasium. This now meant that I would grow apart from all of my old school mates and I had to adapt to a completely new situation. -
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First real boyfriend
I started my first real relationship when I was 14 y.o. and it lasted for 3,5 years. It gave me the first experiences in jealousy, heartbreak, challenges of moving in together, making joint decisions, trust and sacrifices for another person. I also got to experience how it is to grow apart as people, and it made me reflect on how much I have changed within that time. -
Finishing 12th grade
I finished 12th grade with excellent exam scores, thus I could choose to go to almost any university I wanted. I originally planned to study in England, Music management, however, my parents shot down this idea and made me look for alternatives. -
First time living alone
After breaking up with my first boyfriend, I had to move out and start living on my own. I found a 2 bedroom apartment for a reasonable price not that far from my university. This was also the first time I experienced real loneliness, as I hadn't made any new friends in university and I spend most of my days going only to uni and back. I did have to give the apartment up a few months later, as my parents health got worse and we could not afford the extra bills. -
Parents diagnosed with cancer
By a twisted hand of faith, both of my parents got diagnosed with different types of cancer just before I finished 12th grade. Both of them were at stage 3, so it was an uphill battle for their health. I had to become more responsible not only for myself, but also for our household, as well as be ready at a moments notice to drive them to doctors appointments and back. -
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Second boyfriend
We met at the University of Latvia and we both dropped out at the same time. Later on I moved into his parents apartment, were we shared his childhood bedroom. Thus I was unexpectedly involved in all of their family drama. We both started working the same odd jobs and I was accepted into his friend group. However, we were both too big of a hothead to have peace in the relationship. -
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University of Latvia
After much consideration, I started to attend University of Latvia, English Philology. I could not explain how exactly I ended up with this choice. What I do know that after studying for a year, I knew that these studies did not interest me what so ever, thus I decided to drop out. -
Culture College
After dropping out of university, my parents wanted me to go back to studies. As I originally wanted to study music management in England, I decided to try it out in the Latvian Culture College. Unfortunately, the College at that time was undergoing internal reconstruction, thus the professors and study plans changed almost weekly. As a result, from 45 out of 50 people dropped out of the program, myself included, just after 1 semester. -
First real job
Before my parents health got bad, they used to take care of most of my financial needs. However, once my mother had to quit her job, I needed to find a source of income for myself. Thus with the help of my cousin, I got my first job in a theater cafe. I had to learn how to balance schoolwork and the job timetable, as well as how to make wise financial decisions. -
Mother dying
She had a long and a difficult struggle with cancer, and in the end all of the chemotherapy left her a shell of her old self. She lost her memory bit by bit, until she barely recognised me or my brother. Her death made me become even more depressed and anxious, and I started to have issues with self harm. -
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Self development trainings
I started working in a NGO that gave me the possibilities to participate and later on be a co-trainer in multiple self-development trainings. I got to learn more about my weaknesses, strengths, how to overcome negative thoughts and improve my wellbeing. Also being a co-trainer thought me how to lead people through their own self discovery journey and how to ask meaningful questions. -
Father dying
A year after my mother, my father passed as well. His death was more sudden, after a period of getting better, he got much worse. His funeral was the lowest point of my life so far and since then I have only been back to my family home 3 times. I no longer communicate with any of my family members as they have shown me nothing but disrespect and judgement. -
Being homeless
After breaking up with my second boyfriend, I had to leave his apartment. At that time I only had a part-time job, thus I did not have enough money to rent an apartment or even a room. Moving back home was also not an option, as I didn't want to be an extra burden on the family. Thus I was theoretically homeless. One of my friends allowed me to stay in her room, free of charge for 4 months as she was going to Austria at that time. I had never been in a more unstable financial situation. -
Moving to Estonia
After meeting my current boyfriend, I decided to move to Estonia, as I did not a stable living situation, at that point I had also lost my last job and was not communicating with my family. I left everything I had known before, and went to a country where I do not know the language and where I have been only once before. In a way it gave me a fresh start in life. -
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First office job
After searching for a job for a while, I finally found an international loan company that was looking for English speaking customer service advisors. It was the first time I had a stable 9-5 office job that brought much needed stability in my life. During my time there I was promoted to a debt advisor and I got to learn a lot about financial independence and financial planning. -
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Second job in Estonia
Due to the Covid pandemic and changes in UK regulations, my first job in Estonia had to close. Luckily I was approached by a different company needing a Latvian speaking advisor. This company is a digital payment gateway provider, thus I got to learn about financial systems and online payments and their regulation. I also got to teach new recruits and oversee their progress in the company. -
Getting a dog
Together with my boyfriend we decided to get a dog. She has brought us immense joy and also the new experience of having shared responsibilities over a living being. We now know could not imagine a life without animals. -
Starting studies in TalTech
After being in the labor market for a while, I realised that in order to advance in my career, I needed to get a degree. I thought about what I want to do in the future and i figured out that I feel the best teaching others and leading a team. Thus I chose to start studying business administration in order to develop these skills. -
Current day
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Getting a job
I plan to do everything possible to find a job as soon as possible after finishing TalTech in the financial field. -
Finishing TalTech
I plan on finishing TalTech with good grades and on time, with new experience and knowledge. -
Buying a house
One of my current life goals is to be able to afford a house by the time I am 30 years old. -
Getting married
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Getting a second dog
Once I would have a house, I would want to adopt a second dog as ideally I would be surrounded by animals my whole life. -
Having a child
The current plan in my life is to have one child in my early thirties, when I am financially stable enough to give them the best life possible while not sacrificing my career. -
Buying a summerhouse
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Becoming a leading manager
I would like to become a leading manager in a startup type of company after steadily climbing the corporate ladder. -
Opening a dog foster home
With my child being more grown up, and my financial situation improving even more I would be able to devote time in opening a dog foster home to help dogs move through the adoption process and help them learn how to trust and love humans again. -
Retiring
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Becoming a grandparent
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Live out my old days as long as I get to