United States: Job-Seeker Transitions
to Student and Teaching Assistant
My name is Queen Ceasar. After I lost
my job at a warehouse, I was having difficulty
finding employment. I had heard about
transition classes* at Holyoke Community
College, and I enrolled in the Transition
to College and Careers (TCC) program.
There were several phases of the TCC program
that we students had to complete. We
did a lot of work to learn math, take
quizzes, and write essays. I completed
the online Introduction to Health Sciences
class offered by World Education. As
part of the Transition program design,
we also had to start planning for our
career. I decided that I wanted to work
in human services.
When I graduated from the Transition program,
I enrolled in credit classes at Holyoke
Community College. The staff of the TCC
program helped with the process. I'd
always wanted to go to college but didn't
think I was smart enough. Yet when I
got into college classes, I could see
that my skills and confidence were higher
than other students'. My first college
writing assignment was a narrative essay,
which I had learned in the Transition
program.
Recently, I got a job working with the
mentally ill. My TCC instructor also
asked me to serve as the Intro to Health
Sciences online course teaching assistant
this semester. If it was not for the
Transition program, I don't think I would
ever have had the courage to go to college
or to work at a job I really enjoy.
* The Transition to College and Careers
program was a collaborative effort
of the Community Education Project
in Holyoke, MA and Holyoke Community
College. World Education's New England
Literacy Resource Center designed
and provided technical assistance
for it and five other Nellie Mae
Education Foundation-funded programs.
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