{"id":39,"date":"2019-03-28T14:45:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T14:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/your-career-starts-here\/"},"modified":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","slug":"your-career-starts-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/your-career-starts-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Career Starts Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gwen Lillard
\nalumna, medical professional, proud mom<\/span><\/h2>\n

In 2012, Gwen Lillard of Aubrey, Texas, was just over 30 and a self-described stay-at-home mom who hadn\u2019t been to school since she was 17 and a half.\u00a0 <\/span>Change arrived in her life with \u201ca flyer in the mail,\u201d and she began thinking about taking a few classes at NCTC. Her motivation was simple. \u201cThe kids had gotten expensive,\u201d she notes. \u201cI was looking for the fastest way to get some training and become employable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In close to a year, she\u2019d completed NCTC\u2019s 12-month Surgical Technology Certificate, and was soon employed at the Day Surgery Center at DRMC. Next came her Associate of Applied Science in the same field in 2016, and she eventually transferred to Medical City Denton, then \u201cgot in on the ground floor\u201d with the Wise Regional Surgical Hospital in Argyle. Meanwhile, she continued her education and medical training, <\/span>entering a 12-month Certified Surgical First Assist (CSFA) program with Meridian Institute of Surgical <\/span>Assisting \u2014 based in Nashville and one of just six schools with accredited programs in this specialty.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These days, Lillard maintains a work schedule likely to make anyone else\u2019s head spin. She still works weekdays at Wise Regional, \u201cmoonlights\u201d at Medical City Denton\u2019s trauma center \u2014 \u201cit keeps my skills up\u201d \u2014 and, with an eye on entrepreneurship, has started her own staffing company, SCLS Staffing. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

NCTC is where it all started for her just six short years ago, Lillard says, and the college is serving as an important educational stepping stone for two of her three children as well. Her son, Nathanael, 18 and a half, graduated from Aubrey High School at 17, having taken \u201cevery dual credit course he could.\u201d He\u2019ll earn his Associate of Applied <\/span>Science in Radiology from NCTC this spring. Meanwhile, <\/span>
\nLillard\u2019s 15-year-old daughter, Sadie, is a sophomore <\/span>who\u2019s also embracing the idea of higher education via <\/span>dual credit courses in high school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI came from a home that was not education-driven,\u201d Lillard says. \u201cI guess my kids have watched how hard my husband and I have had to work to educate ourselves as adults. So, they\u2019re totally motivated to take classes, and whenever an opportunity is presented, they take it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Dandrea Collins
\nstudent, criminal justice <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Well-acquainted with NCTC and its varied programs, Dandrea Collins, 30, says she attended classes here after high school \u201coff and on\u201d from 2008-2012. After the birth of her son \u2014 now 13<\/span>\u00a0\u2014 she \u201ctook a break.\u201d She was always interested in criminal justice and gravitated to law enforcement, working for a number of years as a detention officer with the Denton County Sheriff\u2019s Department, followed by her current job as a customer service lead with the Department of Public Safety in Flower Mound. Finally, in the fall, she knew it was time to get serious about her education and she enrolled again at NCTC, this time, \u201cfull-time and going full force.\u201d She has her eye on the prize: an Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice and a projected graduation date of May 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Franklin Haskins
\nalumnus & financial aid advisor<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

A familiar face on NCTC\u2019s Gainesville campus, Franklin\u00a0Haskins has worked in the\u00a0financial aid office for 12 years, attending a class or two in the \u00a0evenings and being a single parent to his now 16-year-old son. \u201cI\u2019ve been a career student forever and have worked in higher education since I was 19,\u201d he says. Employed by Texas Woman\u2019s University<\/span>\u00a0for five years, first in the Transcript office and then the Registrar\u2019s, he quit his job and started attending NCTC in 2004, then got a work-study position with the college\u2019s Admissions office. That lasted three years, untill he transitioned over to Financial Aid. Haskins finally earned his Associate of Arts in General Studies in 2016, and he\u2019ll have a bachelor\u2019s degree to frame and hang on his wall in May, when he completes his degree plan with Texas Woman\u2019s University.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Stormy Krayenhagen<\/span>
\nstudent, paramedic program \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

A 2010 graduate of Lake Dallas High School, Stormy Krayenhagen learned about NCTC by way of dual credit classes at her campus, and although she wasn\u2019t able to participate in those offerings, it still put NCTC on the map for her. A personal tragedy inspired Krayenhagen\u2019s interest in Emergency Medical Services, dating back to 2006 when she was crossing the street and was hit and run over by a car. She was transported by CareFlite to Children\u2019s Medical Center Dallas for treatment. Years later, after earning her EMT certification at NCTC, she began working for Children\u2019s Medical Center Dallas in 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed working with pediatrics,\u201d <\/span>Krayenhagen says. \u201cChildren are incredibly resilient and hopeful.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Today, Krayenhagen is 27, married to a sergeant in the United States Air Force, and hopes to continue to work with pediatrics \u2014 possibly even at her favorite hospital, \u201cbut on their ambulance instead.\u201d She is pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in Paramedicine and says it is her way of \u201cpaying it forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Tatyana Mirolyubenko<\/span>
\nstudent, computer\u00a0<\/span>information systems<\/span><\/h2>\n

After High School, Tatyana Mirolyubenko trained as a dental assistant and worked several years in the field before realizing that her heart was not in it. Seeking an education that would provide practical training, she enrolled in NCTC\u2019s Computer Information Systems and Technology (CITE) program and plans to graduate with her Associate of Applied Science degree this May. She applied and qualified as a TechHire participant, which earned her placement in a paid cooperative internship with Team of Defenders, a start-up company in Denton. Mirolyubenko says she has been thrilled with the support of the TechHire team and with her IT coursework, which she describes as \u201cvery challenging and densely-packed\u201d and \u201cwith many compressed and online classes.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Her internship really helped her see the value of that. \u201cNow that I\u2019m in an office environment, building websites and working with hardware and e-commerce, I am definitely benefiting from what I was taught.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gwen Lillard alumna, medical professional, proud mom In 2012, Gwen Lillard of Aubrey, Texas, was just over 30 and a self-described stay-at-home mom who hadn\u2019t been to school since she was 17 and a half.\u00a0 Change arrived in her life with \u201ca flyer in the mail,\u201d and she began thinking about taking a few classes… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success-story","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/51"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}