Paulina was a teen mom struggling in high school. She dropped out but her mother found out about youth services as WorkSource Okanogan during a visit to the Omak Center and immediately Paulina and her family began dreaming about brighter future.
Paulina enrolled in August of 2016. Little did she know that this was just the first step of a four-year-journey to complete a high school diploma and move into the world of work.
Paulina participated in the learning center classroom working on high school credit. She attended workshops on pre-employment skills, as well as learning center speaker presentations. She even attended Meet the Employer sessions to hear directly from local employers about available jobs, what employers look for in candidates, and typical selection processes.
Paulina participated in two work experiences learning about keeping commitments and meeting expectations of being at work every day. Juggling school, family, and work came with many challenges for Paulina. She needed to learn to prioritize her daily activities, but then when she became a mom for the second time, everything got just a little harder.
Through continual counseling and encouragement from her learning center instructor Linda, her job training counselor Monica, and her mother, she slowly but steadily progressed and received a diploma in June 2020.
Paulina is continuing to work hard to provide financially for her young family. She relocated to Vancouver WA to be closer to family. She works full time at Firestone Pacific Foods in an entry level position and has moved up into a position as an inventory reconciler.
With the help of the team at WorkSource Okanogan, Paulina’s dreams of finishing high school and starting a career have come true.
Congratulations, Paulina, on a job well done!
