Whoops!

Monday morning I met with Danielle to go through the CareerLink orientation and enroll her on the website. I had never met with her before, so she actually walked right past me into orientation and it took me another ten minutes to figure out she had already come in! She really is great though, and really seems motivated to make the differences for herself. She was interested in the IU-13 program to obtain her GED, and ended up sitting through the whole morning session before realizing that it was in fact a full day orientation for that program! She finished most of the testing needed for placement that day though, and is scheduled to return to finish the tests on Thursday of this week.
Actually, she shouldn’t even require too much remediation to catch up to take the test and will probably fly through the program. Only being 19 years old, she actually dropped out in her last two months of high school only a year ago! I think working with her will touch the closest to home for me, as my sister just graduated from high school this past June and she was struggling at that as well. I actually understand where Danielle is coming from when she says it is hard to stay motivated those past few months, and I respect that she has already matured enough, in one year, to realize that she made the mistake and needs that education to make a decent life for herself. She also seems very excited about the Ready to Work program, going through whatever training is necessary to get a well-paying job and back on her feet—possibly even getting her CNA certificate to work in some sort of mental health or social work position.

This morning I was supposed to meet Isabel at CareerLink for orientation, and she actually did not show up. I found out later that she moved out of her shelter, so I will not know exactly why she didn’t follow through with the program. It ended up working out well though because I had the opportunity to find out more details about the CareerLink services, procedures, and programs. I talked with Lisa from CareerLink, and now understand why my first day with Heidi was so complex—basically because I can’t follow directions! The pass system allows clients to utilize the computers and services, while still maintaining a comfortable working environment for the employees. It also helps everyone communicate and allows staff members to offer greater individual assistance to each client that works in the resource room to search for a job. As far as the various programs offered, it is probably much less complex for someone who is entering CareerLink with a specific goal in mind. For example, Danielle was interested in getting a GED and was instantly connected with the class and program following the orientation. So basically, if I would have sat through the orientation before coming into the resource room, I would have had a much easier time in general!