Rocio Carbonell makes her way to work at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. Astoria is also home to the Tongue Point Job Corps Center where Rocio studied healthcare and graduated as a medical assistant in 2012.

“They did a really good job teaching me,” says Rocio. “They helped me every step of the way, made sure that I felt prepared for all of my tests to certify.”

Today, she works in urgent care.

“I really like emergency medicine. You never know what to expect; never a dull moment.”

Rocio is calm now in the urgent care environment—as long as she’s not the patient.

“You know,” she says with a big smile, “in a patient setting I’m fine, but when it’s like me getting a shot, I get nervous.”

The truth is Job Corps gave her the training and work opportunities to be successful.

“I really love urgent care. I did my work based at Tongue Point in the emergency room. It was crazy. I definitely saw a lot of things that helped prepare me to work in a fast-paced environment.”

Shan Wright, who’s Rocio’s supervisor, is impressed with Rocio’s skills and commitment.

“She’s attentive,” says Shan. “She came with a lot of experience. And I’ve actually worked with her for quite a few years in other clinics.”

“Job Corps has really changed my life for the better for more reasons than just work,” continues Rocio. “I think this is a really important program. And I 100 percent support that this program continues to run.”