We’ve all heard the saying “what doesn’t break you can make you” and that is exactly what happened to one California woman. She took some horrible experiences, with the help of someone special, and turned her life completely around.

Tiffany Hall met police Lieutenant Jim Foster when he arrested her five years ago on drug charges. Luckily for Hall, the police man wasn’t willing to just do his paperwork and call it a day. He used his time with Hall to try to inspire her to find a new purpose in her life; something outside of drug addiction.

With his encouraging words, Hall finally made the decision to turn her life around. At a press conference last week Hall got to meet her inspiration again face to face. She says he would encourage her all the time and tell her that she could do better than this.

He says it was her funny and friendly personality that stuck out and made him want to help her. Foster says she had a unique personality and a great story to tell. She had a tough exterior, but a soft interior.

When Hall was face to face with Foster at a news conference at the Long Beach Police Department headquarters she said she wanted to thank Lt. Jim Foster for his respect and his compassion and empathy that he showed her and anyone he came in contact with.

She knew it was Foster that helped turn her life around. At the conference she also gave Foster an unexpected gift. It was an invitation to her college graduation. Foster took the invitation and replied, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Foster says that stories like Hall’s are the reason he loves being a police officer. “The biggest joy of my professional career is from time to time having contact with people who have found their way out of horrible circumstances and into life’s success,” said Foster.

Hall hopes to become a social worker and help others who are in the same position that she was once in. She wants to help them and encourage them to get out of the rut and find a better place in life. “I tell myself every day ‘Don’t look back behind because there’s nothing back there. You gotta keep looking forward,'” she says.

What an inspiration. Hall is proof that no matter how bad life can seem, change is possible if you put your mind to it. Please share this inspiring story with your family and friends and check out the video below of Hall meeting her inspiration after years had passed.