Success Stories
Golois Mouelet-Nguimbi
When 17-year-old Golois Mouelet-Nguimbi landed in Carroll County in September 2006, he had a lot to learn. “Everything was new,” he recalled recently. “The language was new, the culture was new, the school system was new,”
Born in Congo, Golois and his family had lived “all over Africa” before getting green cards and moving to the US. They settled in Westminster through a church connection. Golois entered 12th grade, speaking fluent French but no English. “I had to work hard to learn English,” he said, “to excel in school.”
And excel he did. He studied English at night while attending high school full-time. Luckily, his English classes were in the same building as the Carroll County Business & Employment Resource Center (BERC, the One-Stop career center). Golois spotted Youth Coordinator Max Bair’s name and contacted him in February 2007. “I asked him to help me get a good job, finish high school, get my license … so before the summer I started applying for jobs. We went all over the place looking for jobs. We went to Wal-Mart, Giant, nursing homes. Mr. Bair went with me, he took the car and went from place to place” until Golois landed a part-time grocery cashier position at $7 an hour.
Youth Coordinator Bair had recognized Golois’s potential, so when he heard about a job fair at Carroll Hospital Center, he called to offer Golois a ride. “I got that job as a floor technician” at $9 per hour, working part-time while he continued in school.
After graduating with honors from Winters Park High School, Golois entered Carroll Community College fulltime, as a Computer Information Systems major. “I was elected to the student government association. The first year I was a senator, this year I am the treasurer of the SGA. I have to report on the student activities, I am a liaison between the Community College Foundation board and the student life office.”
Although Golois eventually secured tuition grants and scholarships, “the first semester, I didn’t get any scholarship because I didn’t know how to apply, but BERC paid for my books.” After graduating in May 2009, he’ll start UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) as a junior in the honors college.
Golois continued working at Carroll Hospital Center while going to college. He’s done so well there that he not only earned a raise, but was named Employee of the Month. “I was very happy. Everybody was proud of me. My name was printed in the department newsletter, I got two gift cards, and I moved into a permanent part-time position, which enabled me to get health benefits.” Now, he can adjust his hours based on his school commitments – working up to 40 hours a week in the summer. The award also opened the door to an internship in the Human Resources Department. “I’m doing a lot of design work. One of my projects is to create HR forms for job applications, time sheets, leave requests, etc. My last project was about analyzing last year’s annual survey. I made a power point on the survey results and presented that to the HR Vice President They are thinking of hiring me. If everything goes well, they want to give me a part-time job in HR while I’m in college.”
As for the future: “I really want to work for the government. I am trying to get an internship with the Social Security Administration. I want to get certified in education. I like to teach, and I would like to teach math one day.”
Golois acknowledges BERC’s pivotal role in his journey. “Their hearts care for people. They really love people to be successful in life.” Indeed, BERC provided everything from case management services, job preparation and job search assistance, to paying for a learner’s permit and driver education classes so Golois could get his driver’s license. BERC provided assistance with public transportation to work; when that was not available, BERC provided transportation. Mr. Bair helped Golois find and furnish an apartment for his family, helped him find a car, and is teaching him how to maintain it.
During his final months as a BERC customer, Golois spoke at a BERC workshop for Human Resource managers from local businesses. “I gave credit to the hospital and to the BERC. I told how they helped me, and how they helped me get a job. The main thing I said is to take a risk. The Hospital took a risk by hiring me. I was encouraging the other HR people to take risks by hiring youths into the collectivity of the company.”
|
