4 Months Out, And My Journey Isn't Over...

My graduation was held on January 20th, 2012. Or rather, it was supposed to be. A few of the female graduates thought it would be funny to spray Silly String throughout the Humphrey Hall dorm. And that would have been fine, if it were just Silly String. But others came in, and got angry, and flipped beds. Still not too bad, but kinda ugly. And then other others came in, and got angry, and started spreading toothpaste and shaving cream. Got REALLY ugly. I was at the admin building at the time; my folks observed the goings-on while I finished up my papers. (Besides, yours truly is far too classy to participate in such a debacle.)

In any case, once it went that far, the campus staff got involved. It was so bad that the Center Director decided to cancel the graduation ceremony. As in, nobody walked, nobody took pictures, nobody got reception cake. And this is after having spent the entire day fitting for robes and rings, signing papers, watching anxiously for family to arrive, and in some cases, packing for the trip home. On top of this, at least two of the graduates (one was a close friend) had never walked in a graduation ceremony, ever, and some families had made a long trip for nothing, including mine. Everyone was upset and frustrated.

Ceremony aside, I am officially a Culinary Arts graduate of Pine Knot Job Corps. My certificates are safely tucked away with my resume, and a month after graduation, I landed a job working at Wal*Mart in Hamilton - I am now your friendly deli associate! Also, as a new graduate, I can have over a year of assistance from a Job Corps counselor, concerning just about any and every matter that young adults have to face when living on their own.

I also have to mention that I now have an entire network of friends from the Job Corps that I can ask for tips on where to find a job, and a handful of great references for my resume, which has been nicely beefed up thanks to my education and experience in and out of the kitchens on campus. The whole thing spans two pages now! Makes me feel like I've really done something... Oh wait. I guess I have :P

I'm going to assume this as my very last post for the Job Corps. My experience would not have been possible without the following people:

*My entrance sponsor, Tonya Collins - for putting up with all of the tricky faxes :P
*Andrew "Bo" Marnhout - best teacher ever!
*Kathy Hearn - she knows how to run a kitchen!
*"Jerry" - all around fun guy and staff sponsor for the PKJC Anime Club!
*Bruce Williams - never a dull day in the kitchens :)
*CPP 1/31 - I love you guys! Keep working hard!
*My Humphrey Hall sisters - even the ones who made a mess in the dorm :P Save the drama, ladies!
*All Culinary Arts students - we had some delicious times together <3
*All founding members of the Anime Club - I wish I could be there to see where it goes!
*And dozens of others I'm probably forgetting...

Thank you for making my Job Corps experience valuable and unforgettable. I will carry these lessons and friendships with me for the rest of my life. If you ever need me, you can hunt me down easily - my personal email will always be sailacruz@yahoo.com. Keep a lookout for my other blogs, and stay focused on your goals!

Lotsa Love Always,
@};~ Tia

Well, I safely have the holidays behind me. Even though I finished my TAR (!!!) before winter break, I had imagined it would be right back to the norm for me, with graduation on the 27th of January.

Oh how wrong I was!

I found out recently that my graduation is January 20th, 2012 - that's next Friday! Thank goodness I was able to alert my family to the change of date. This week, I'm attending my Career Transition Readiness classes. This is essentially a crash course/review of resumes, interviews, and how to hold the job once you get it. Ideally, I will graduate with a new job lined up, and I can start working right away!

Everyone on center is currently bummed out - the entire Job Corps program was audited, and the missing money is coming out of the students' paycheck, since we're the ones that benefit from it. As a result, some students will receive their entire paycheck, some will receive a partial, and some will receive nothing. We had an opportunity to check whether we were receiving money, but I skipped on it. I'm so close to graduating that the money doesn't matter so much.

Next week? I'm not sure what to expect. I know that I'll need to be fitted for my cap and gown, but I can't imagine what else I might be doing...