After a semester at a university that wasn’t the right fit, Candice Baylor wasn’t sure what to do next. Her sister Angelica helped her find the answer: Job Corps.
Angelica was away from home in Marion, Va., attending the Blue Ridge Job Corps Center. She spoke highly of the program and her experiences and encouraged her sister to enroll too, so she could continue her education while she figured out her future.
“The major draw was of course the recommendation from my sister,” Candice said, “but also the fact that the program was designed to allow me to work at my own pace.”
Turns out her pace is pretty fast. She chose the Clinical Medical Assistant program, and as she delved deeper into her studies, the more she wanted to keep pushing. Candice found herself wanting to be in the classroom every day, and sure enough, in under a year she earned multiple credentials in addition to CMA: phlebotomy technician, EKG technician and patient care technician. She even had the chance to intern at Smyth County Family Physicians as part of her work-based learning.
Candice graduated from Job Corps in January 2018 and quickly found a full-time job as a medical assistant at Mountain States Medical Group’s pain management clinic in Abingdon. Her dream was still to attend college to study communications, though, and while working in Abingdon, she began taking classes at Virginia Highlands Community College. While studying there she learned about Emory & Henry College, which offered a great mass communications program right up the road.
Though she loved her job at the clinic, she left in August of 2019 to become a full-time student at Emory & Henry and put all her energy into earning her bachelor’s degree and her ultimate goal of becoming a television news journalist.
She graduated in May 2021, and now she works as a news producer for WCYB, a news station out of Bristol. Candice is also pursuing a master’s degree in mass communications from Liberty University. She credits Job Corps with helping her to grow confident enough to pursue her dreams and giving her the means to support herself while she did so.
“Step out of your comfort zone,” she advised future students. “Explore different career paths until you find your passion, and once you do, work hard until you achieve your goals.”
Graduated from Job Corps in: 2018 Employer: News Producer, WCYB; Bristol, Virginia Hometown: Marion, Virginia Phone: 276-685-7615 Submitted by: Hannah Purdy Notes:
Source: Nuvi