Shortly after starting his college career, Albert Martinez realized continuing the higher education route was going to be too expensive. Once he heard about Job Corps from a family friend, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by. Albert enrolled in the Carpentry program at Gary Job Corps in Texas with the dream of becoming […]
MTC
David Borja
David Borja was born and raised in Guam and was always very close to his family and friends. He could never have imagined being apart from them. However, David was continuously working low-income jobs and wanted a change. “Back home, I was going from job to job but never sticking with one thing for more […]
Laveah Acosta
“As someone who is transgender, I struggled in high school and wanted a way to get out of my town and start a new beginning. Moving to a new city ended up being a great experience, and I made so many friends. When I would leave for the weekends, I would have friends waiting for […]
Heidi Mann
Heidi Mann knew that there was something for her outside of her hometown in “middle of nowhere, Wyoming.” As much as she loved where she grew up, she knew she had to search for an education elsewhere in order to reach her full potential. When she was denied a scholarship to study sign language from […]
Morgan Griffith
“If it weren’t for Job Corps, I wouldn’t be here where I am.” Morgan Griffith quit school in eighth grade. He had one job at a roofing company but was laid off in the wintertime. He didn’t know what he wanted to do in life and didn’t have anywhere to go. When Morgan turned 18, […]
Jesus Buelna
“My life has made a full 360 after Job Corps. Job Corps worked for me.” Jesus Buelna moved out of his childhood home in Long Beach to live with his aunt in Hawthorne, Calif. He was new to the area and was struggling to maintain good grades in school. Jesus wasn’t certain school was the […]
Lora Williams
When Lora Williams saw a commercial for Job Corps in 2000, she felt called to dial the number on the screen. “It was a pretty abnormal thing for me to do,” Lora said. “I didn’t think anything would come of it, I just thought I might as well try.” Lora was 16 years old at […]
Tony Flowers
“The highlight of my time at Job Corps was my instructors. They made me who I am today.” When Tony Flowers first arrived at the Gary Job Corps Center, he was looking for a way to make money so he could purchase his own clothes. He had always worked dead-end jobs, including shoveling the snow […]
Lisaira DeLuna
Lisaira DeLuna never let traditional gender roles define her. She grew up helping her dad work with trucks and racehorses, bull riding with her siblings and cousins, and wrestling on her high school team. Lisaira and her brother, Abel, didn’t finish high school but soon realized they needed to take a more serious look at […]
Talhah Shahid
A strong work ethic was not new to Talhah Shahid. Before joining Job Corps, he worked as a dishwasher, mover, warehouse hand and janitor, but never felt optimistic about his future professional growth. He worked long hours with low pay, never seeing a high school diploma or career in sight for himself. Unable to save […]