“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 […]
Transportation
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 […]
Ralph Jean Baptiste
When Ralph Jean Baptiste arrived in the United States in 2014, he soon learned that due to his lack of English he wouldn’t be able to enroll in the Connecticut school system and finish his high school diploma. He decided to independently enroll in English classes so that he could go back to high school; […]
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 […]
Mikki McGill
“My life has not been a straight journey. Job Corps was certainly a help up. It helped me become a productive citizen and a productive person.” It was in the 1990s that Mikki McGill found herself living in the city of Chicago very much down on her luck. “I had flunked out of college, but […]
Victor Watkins
Victor Watkins, a native of Birmingham, Ala., always had a love for building and understanding how things are assembled. Victor knew Job Corps was the place for him when he heard that the program would allow him to exercise his creative talent. A friend who had completed the program encouraged him to go to Job […]
Kyle Glass
Kyle Glass grew up in a rural area of central Maine, where many of the youth in small towns find themselves working part-time jobs with little career growth. Kyle found himself going down that same path until he learned about Job Corps. “I wanted more, but after high school I got stuck in a rut […]