I Lost My Job, My Relationship and My Savings — And This Is How I Found My Way Back

At the beginning of 2008, I was a graduate student at the University of Southern California with a full-time teaching job, a new house and a manuscript ready to sell. I had my college sweetheart, a well-stocked savings account and a five-year plan. By the end of that year, I had lost it all. I moved back in with my parents at the age of 28, to start again. After failing to find the kind of job I thought I wanted, I became a full-time tutor at a learning center in my hometown in Marin County.