Greetings from Brooklyn, I was born into a fifth generation JW family and my only ambition in life was to serve at Bethel. When I was 19, I was invited to Patterson, the "center of divine education on earth" (cringe) as I was led to believe. For nearly 18 years, I lived under a vow of poverty and obedience. For the first 15 years, I found this life mostly enjoyable and rewarding. I have many fond memories of the beautiful people I met at Bethel and in my world travels. However, a series of unlikely factors led to my awakening and painful realization that I was born and raised in a high-control religion, and there was no dignified way to leave, without losing everyone I loved. For nearly 7 years, including my last 3 years at Bethel, I was physically in, mentally out (PIMO) and the emotional and psychological toll was really difficult. I finally was able to save up enough money to "hard fade" and moved into a studio apartment in Brooklyn Heights that used to be a Bethel residence. I have been trying to find my way in the "real world" and enjoy my work as a NYC tour guide, which is seasonal. My only credentials are a NYC and Washington DC sightseeing license, and I realize I need a degree to build a more secure future. I also love learning and sharing what I learn, so a career in education or academia would be rewarding. Especially as I am accustomed to being overworked and underpaid with nearly two decades at Bethel! LOL But seriously, I am very interested in studying comparative religions and psychology, in addition to history and sociology. I have created several NYC and MET museum highlights tours and believe we can use art, culture and history as education and inspiration. I hope to also continue my volunteer work at The Liberati, a nonprofit that has the mission on empowering former JWs and other cult survivors to break free and build a better life. I believe we need more research into the devastating impact high control religion has on good people, and that this initiative could be led through our nonprofit in partnership with a University or Federal grant. Thank you so much for offering this opportunity to former Jehovah's Witnesses. It really is beautiful and inspiring. I am also a founding member and board member of https://theliberati.org and we would love to potentially partner with you to offer financial aid for education through our nonprofit. Thank you for what you are doing to pay it forward!