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A Heartfelt Story of Success at the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center

Christian Quezada felt as if he was sinking. But to his surprise around the corner he found a new road—it was Job Corps.

Christian said, “I heard about Job Corps in youth court. Then when I turned 18, I was living on my own. I was struggling to pay my rent and stuff like that. Doing a minimum-wage job wasn’t cutting it. Then, I turned to street stuff to get money. Then I was like, ‘no more. I’m not going to do that.’ So, I went to the closest Job Corps recruiting center and talked with a counselor.”

It was a good choice for 19-year-old Christian. At Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in Kentucky, he quickly earned his high school diploma and is half way through the certified nursing assistant program.

“I want to become a registered nurse. I’ll do four years in college, get my degree in nursing, and hopefully become a traveling nurse.”

As the name implies, traveling nurses move around a lot, from one state to another every few months, gaining new experiences and meeting lots of new people along the way.

Christian says, he appreciates living in a country that believes in its people. “The fact that our country is willing to do that; like our government is willing to pay for this opportunity. That’s great because a lot of people are out on the streets doing nothing; they know they could change, that they could do something better for themselves.”

Christian paused during the interview and said, “I’m pretty happy with myself, with what I’m doing. I didn’t think I could do this.”

But, those around Christian new he could. Especially his family. “They’re pretty proud of what I’m doing right now. Dad doesn’t ever stop saying how proud he is, that I’ve turned things around and started doing better. So, yea, they’re really happy with my recent choices.”