Job Corps turned Riya into a planner. After graduating early from high school, she was looking for her next step before she attended college. A school counselor recommended that she attend Job Corps, where she would be able to learn skills that would help her find a good job to pay her way through college.
Riya decided she would give it a try, so she signed up for the Office Administration training program at Treasure Island Job Corps in San Francisco. She knew the credentials she would earn in the Microsoft Office suite, filing and other administration credentials would be helpful to her no matter what career path she chose.
Adjusting to life on campus was a challenge for Riya at first. She was away from home for the first time, and most of her fellow students were older than she was. But she chose to focus on her studies, and over time, she enjoyed living on campus. She even met her current partner at Treasure Island.
“Everywhere you go, you’re always going to run into ups and downs,” Riya said. “It honestly depends on how you handle yourself and the situation. You can either make the best out of the situation or the worst.”
Riya got hands-on experience with a job in the copy corner on campus, where she helped students print and organize the materials they needed for class. She was involved in student leadership in high school, so she also joined the Student Government Association. One of Riya’s biggest accomplishments, she says, was that she started attending college while she finished up her Job Corps training, earning general education credits and creating a plan for the rest of her undergraduate degree.
Riya graduated from Job Corps in December 2021. Since then, her credentials helped her land a job as an inventory specialist with a wholesale distribution company. She really enjoys her job and is glad that she had the skills she needed to get hired. It’s also helping her to support herself as she earns a bachelor’s degree in communications. After earning her degree, Riya’s goal is to become either a journalist or an event planner—and all the organizational skills she learned from Job Corps will benefit her then too.
Riya has words of advice for current Job Corps students—two of them, in fact: focus and plan. Creating realistic short-term and long-term plans—and then sticking to them—was integral to her success. But most of all, she says, it’s important to be proud of yourself and the progress you’re making every single day.
“I’m proud to say that I own my car and my own home. I got a job, and I did all of this by myself,” Riya said. “Job Corps was a great learning experience, for school and personally.”
Graduated from Job Corps in: December, 2021 Employer: Republic National Distributing Company Hometown: California Phone: 510-998-9212 Email: riya.kumar@rndc-usa.com Submitted by: Hannah Purdy Notes:
Source: Susan Ber, Ber.Susan@jobcorps.org, (760) 936-3759
Salary: $23/hr