I worked at a spray shop and saw how unhealthy the conditions were for workers so I decided to go to school to get a degree in health science.  When I am finished, I could work for the county, OSHA or be a health inspector and shut down places like the spray shop I used to work at.

When I was 13, I moved here from Pakistan.  My parents were educated in Pakistan but it only translates to a 9^th grade education here.  My older sister is extremely smart and pursuing a career as a heart surgeon at UC Davis Medical School.  She is always encouraging me and my younger sister to get more education.  I started studying at a community college to be an English teacher but it was really hard for me since English is not my first language.  So I decided to follow in my sister’s footsteps and get into the medical field as a dental assistant.

I moved to the United States when I was 24 years old from Japan.  I got a job as a teaching assistant but I was most passionate about the medical field.  So I looked into nursing and the waiting list was too long.  But I learned about the dental assisting program at community college and thought that was a good way to get some skills.  It is a one year A.S. degree program that will launch me into the medical field.  

I have been in construction my whole life but I got to a point that I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to advance anymore in the field without going back to school.  I didn’t want to plateau and get stuck at a lower level so I needed to get more skills.  I am not good at the whole school thing but I really wanted to advance my career.  I am studying construction management at a community college and plan to transfer to a four year university.  My goal is to get into sustainable development because it is the future of construction.  The coolest thing about construction is working all day, stepping back, seeing walls up and knowing that I just built this.

I grew up in San Jose, CA and when I was a kid and didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career.  I started going to community college in Modesto when I graduated high school and thought I wanted to be a nurse.  My counselor sat down with me to do an educational plan and I realized I was going to have to take a lot of math and science classes which were not my favorite.  At that time, my counselor’s mother passed away and the hospital staff didn’t speak English and had trouble communicating it to the family.  After I heard about that, I decided to study Spanish and be an interpreter.  Some people ask me why I want to study Spanish when I already know it but just because I can speak and write it doesn’t mean that I know all the grammar.  I am learning a lot every day in my classes and my experience in community college has been very rewarding.

I am enrolled in the Cosmetology program at Sacramento City College learning about hair, nails, and skin care so that I can get a job renting a station at a hair salon.  I love my teachers because they make it fun and I like learning about hair!  I wanted to be a teacher when I was a kid but now I want to do hair because I get to show my creativity.  The program I am in is great because it is cheaper than going with a private beauty college.  The only thing that sucks is that the days are long.  Classes are 5 days a week from 2:30-10:30pm for 10 months (3 semesters).  Some of my friends in the class like the hours because they work and some take care of their kids.