Success Stories
Aaron Sierak, Susquehanna Workforce Network Success Story
“I lost motivation to continue,” recalls Aberdeen resident Aaron Sierak about dropping out of school during his junior year despite earning As and Bs. “My grandfather had just passed away, my grandmother came to live with us, and there was a lot of stress at home.”
Dropouts cost Maryland taxpayers $42 million per year in increased governmental expenditures and reduced taxes. The Susquehanna Workforce Network attacks that crisis by helping dropouts like Mr. Sierak return to school.
Like most of the young people who drop out of school, Mr. Sierak was discouraged about his future. “I wanted to change. I sat around for a couple of months, and I was working full-time in a warehouse, but I wanted to better myself. I knew that I ultimately had to get my GED because I wanted to go to college.”
A friend told Mr. Sierak about Reconnecting Youth, a dropout recovery program run by the Harford County Public Schools in partnership with the Susquehanna Workforce Network. “One day I just called them. Miss Boo [Martha Chrismer] came out to talk to me and gave me all the information. I didn’t have to go anywhere else, it was all right there in front of me. They offered to pay for my learner’s permit, and for the classes, and for pretty much everything else. So all I had to do was apply myself. That was my only focus.”
Once he got started, Mr. Sierak didn’t waste any time. He earned his GED within three months, entered Harford Community College, and obtained a Pell Grant for the first year’s tuition. He’s working toward his Associate’s degree and, eventually, his Registered Nursing certification.
“If you had talked to me a couple of years ago, I would have said, ‘Nursing, no way! I’m going to be a professional athlete.’ Then one day, when me and my mom were taking care of my grandmother, we went to the hospital and I saw one of the nurses, and they were helping people. It was really interesting, they get good benefits, they make their own schedule. My sister is 24 and in a nursing program in Ohio, and that influenced me as well.
“It feels really good to know what I want to do, and to have a goal so I’m not off track. It’s kind of hard keeping that motivation up all the time. I keep in touch with Miss Boo and Miss Deb [Temple]; they’re interested in helping me and knowing I’m okay. I really appreciate what they did for me there. They really took the pressure off me and let me apply myself, and that’s what I did.
“I like the fact that an RN means I’ll always have a job.” |
