The random misadventures of a (formerly)Single Super Mom

 In 2006, my ex husband sent me an email saying, "I want a divorce. You need to find a job". Needless to say it shattered my world. I had been a stay at home mom for 5 years and had no idea this was coming. He found someone else, someone that he would eventually go on to marry, but at the time I was left with a kindergartner and a third grader, no college degree, no work experience for the past 5 years, and a looming deadline of figuring out what I had to do to survive.   However, the one thing I always had was a village. I watched and cared for other people's children, and their families, helped out in church, volunteered, was a team parent... all of those people helped me find my feet again. One of my best friends in the world helped me get a job, other friends helped us move when I found a little townhouse to buy despite making $11 an hour, helped feed us, and helped support us. I could not have done any of this without them.  We STRUGGLED. And when I say struggled? I

I have written multiple times about how amazing of an organization FIRST is, and how I have seen first hand how it can impact the entire trajectory of a child's life. Last year, I was invited to become a member of of a FIRST Robotics Competition Black Mentor Advisory Group. It is one of the only, if not the only organization of its kind in the United States. It is no secret that there is a distinct lack of Black representation in STEM and other professional areas. There are a couple of hundred FRC Mentors in North Carolina alone, and I would say about 10% of them are Black. We had a virtual meeting recently and the council head, who is White, and one of the staunchest allies I have ever met in my life, told us a story about a colleague who ran a robotics event at a school in North Carolina. There was a young Black girl in the group and when asked if she wanted to participate, she said "she couldn't." And when the program lead, who is White said that she could do anyth