“It has certainly been a trip getting here, and I am
very glad that this is where I landed.”
After 35 years working as a medical assistant,
Henderson suddenly found herself without a job in January 2010. Not being able
to find a replacement job, she went to the Portland CareerCenter for help.
The staff helped Victoria apply to a re-training
program called the Competitive Skills Scholarship Program. She was accepted to a
two-year program at Southern Maine Community College for Electrical Engineering
Technology
In order to support her success, CSSP helped her
with tuition and fees. Victoria said the program also helped her with car
maintenance expenses so she could get to classes, fixed her broken computer and
paid for her eye exam and reading glasses.
“Without these financial helps, I would not have
been able to go to school,” she said.
In 2012, Victoria graduated from the Electrical
Engineering Technology program and was named SMCC’s Student of the Year
“This was indeed a great honor, but I have to give
much credit for this to the folks at the CareerCenter who provided guidance and
encouragement through this time,” she said.
The CareerCenter even helped Victoria continue her
electrical engineering technology training at the University of Maine’s
Technology Management program the next semester.
“Besides the encouragement and guidance that the
CareerCenter has given me, it has been a major factor in my being able to do
this training without having to work a full-time job,” she said. “The financial
aid gave me the opportunity to devote my energies to my studies.”
Victoria graduated in May and received USM’s
Department of Technology Outstanding Student Award for 2014.
She is now looking for a job in her newly trained
field by again using the CareerCenter.
“Coming into this new career training, I did not know what I was capable of,” said Victoria.
“Coming into this new career training, I did not know what I was capable of,” said Victoria.
All she needed was a little help from the
CareerCenter to find out who she was and what she could do. And now she has
confidence when applying for jobs.
“Now if I have any self-doubt about a job I might
like to apply for, I will just need to buck up and remind myself that I have
gotten this far, I know a lot more than I did four years ago, and I will
certainly know more than a year from now than I do now. The only failure is
failing to try.”
