Success Story:
Workforce & Career Services Help Youth Meet Academic and Career Goals
Cristian, North Carolina
My name is Cristian. I am 19 years-old, and was recently granted authorization to work in the U.S. I have worked in tobacco fields with my mother, every summer since I was 12 years old. My parents have been working these fields for years, planting and harvesting tobacco, since we came to US from Mexico. While working the tobacco fields is an easy job to get, the work itself is very hard and we struggled daily. I worked in the fields every summer daily from 6 am – 8 pm in 90 – 100-degree heat, to save enough money to attend college. I spent many days being sick from just working there.
At the end of each summer, I would go back to school. I graduated high school with a GPA of 3.5. Shortly upon graduation, I soon realized that I would not be eligible for financial aid, and that the money I had saved from working in the fields was not even enough to purchase textbooks. It was at that moment that I realized that all my hard-work and efforts would not be enough to make my dreams come true.
“Telamon has been the best thing to happen to me in my life, and I'm grateful.”
When I learned about Telamon-TRC’s National Farmworker Job Program for youth from a family friend, all of a sudden, I had hope. Entering Telamon’s youth program, I became excited once again about my future. I enrolled in Wake Technical Community College and now I am in my third semester, working toward a degree in the Electronics Engineering Technology Program. My ultimate goal is to become an Engineer. Telamon has had a positive impact on my life, helping to ease my family’s financial burden regarding my education. Without Telamon, I would not have been able to attend college and would still be working in the tobacco fields. The employees at Telamon, have been more than just helpful. Telamon has been the best thing to happen to me in my life, and I’m grateful.
Telamon-TRC’s Workforce & Career Services encompasses a broad array of customized work readiness and job skill training programs, focusing on helping farmworkers, veterans, and youth who seek to build skills and career paths. Work readiness and job skill development is often supplemented by language services (ESL), educational support (GED) and includes one-on-one counseling, group workshops and supportive services.
Since 1965 Telamon-TRC has helped individuals like you access services that lead to better jobs, better lives, and better communities.Find a Workforce & Career Services program near you today.
