Student Feature: Unitech Training Academy

Celest came to Unitech Training Academy looking and hoping for big changes. She and her autistic son were living in a homeless shelter in Lake Charles Louisiana. They had no home, no car, and depended on government assistance for basic necessities. She knew something had to change and that she had to step up to the plate and prove to herself and her son that she could take care of them both.
 
She enrolled in the EKG/Phlebotomy day program. She attended class Monday through Thursday from 8 am to 1 pm. Celeste not only managed to attend school daily but she took on two jobs to make ends meet. There were days where she felt like going on was impossible. That’s when her instructor would encourage and push her to keep moving forward. Celest credits her instructor for a lot of her success to this day. 

Three months prior to Celest’s completion date she attended a job fair with a friend who was a nurse. The job fair was for nurses only but she went prepped with her resume in hand anyway. At that job fair she met the women in charge of all Cardiac Telemetry Monitor technicians at Christus St. Patrick Hospital. This woman was also a Unitech Training Academy graduate! Celest boldy said, “I’m not a nurse but here is what I can do,” and handed her a resume. Only two days after this interaction she was called in for a face-to-face interview. They loved her but the next step was to pass her Telemetry Certification exam. Celest was able to do this even though she was three months away from completing the program. She had her career as a Cardiac Monitor Technician in full swing and had not even graduated yet!
 
Celest finished school and continued to flourish at her new job. It has been two years now and she still loves going to work every day. She has a home, a car, and is no longer on any type of assistance. On top of all that she does she finds time in her schedule to visit the Unitech Training Academy Lake Charles campus to share her story and inspire other students to keep going! 

Submitted by Unitech Training Academy

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