“My first day at Job Corps; that was a funny day because that night I was a little nervous. I couldn’t sleep. But, as time goes on I met friends that were fun and funny; I mean they make me laugh.”

Rita Sackey came to the Brunswick Job Corps Center from Loganville, Georgia. But, she is originally from Ghana, West Africa.  She came into Job Corps with a high school diploma.

Rita was working hard at Brunswick Job Corps when she received tragic news that her mother, in Africa, had passed away.

“That was like four days before I took my SAT for college. I tried to give up; I wanted to. But my first decision of why I came to Job Corps was to get certified and get good work and then I planned on going home to visit her. But then she wasn’t there anymore. I felt there is no use. But Job Corps staff members asked is that what your Momma would want you to do. And, I know my Mom. She’s someone that doesn’t give up. She always told me you’re going to do it. So, when they remind me of those words I decided I couldn’t do it. So, I went and took the SAT.” 

After taking the SAT, Rita went home to help her family but returned to attend the College of Coastal Georgia, while still living at Brunswick Job Corps for two years.

This semester she moved to the college campus and will wrap up her bachelor’s degree. Rita says her next step is to become a dentist.

“That’s my dream,” she says. Her next stop is the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, Georgia where she will get a medical degree in dentistry.