Student Profiles

Anya’s Story

The Challenge

Deep in my heart, I knew what I wanted to do. Art was my passion and gift. I struggled to see the relevance in the classes I was required to take in high school, and wound up missing school more and more frequently. I dropped further behind and considered leaving school entirely. I went to my high school counselor to discuss getting a GED so that I could pursue art full time. That counselor suggested the Career Start program instead.

I met with the Career Start counselors and they explained the program and made me feel more confident about the major shift that I was making in my educational path.

The Solution

I decided to pursue a degree in Visual Communications at Highline College in their Career Start program. After starting my classes at Highline, I was able to experience the relevance and began to pay more attention. I was finally learning things I could use in order to start a career in art. I was in an environment where I had my skills challenged; additionally it felt great to be respected and treated like an adult.

Towards the completion of my degree, I met with my instructors and Career Start advisor to see what my next steps I should take. They took the time to advise me and helped me to make my decision to pursue further education.

The Future

The education I received at Highline gave me an edge when I went into the Digital Gaming and Media program at LWTech. My design skills transferred rather nicely into game design.

I was required to take a Programming Fundamentals class for my AAS at LWTech, which spurred me into actually working on programming for games. Due to a larger job market and better prospects, I have gone on to pursue a Bachelor’s in Computer Science at the University of Washington Bothell.

What I learned at Highline helped set me off on the strange and beautiful path that I am on now. I clearly remember at that point in my life how bad I was feeling about high school and how serious I was about dropping out. I think I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Career Start program. The people I met — instructors, fellow students, advisors — all had an important and lasting impact on my life. I have no doubt that there are other high school students out there who might be feeling the same dread I felt, and the Career Start program might be just the thing to help them gain their confidence and find their place in the world.

Nadra’s Story

Career Start was an amazing program for me. Growing up, my family and I didn’t grow up financially stable. All my life, when I thought about what I wanted to do when I grew up, it always had something to do with helping others. I went from wanting to be a doctor, a nurse, an anesthesiologist, a surgical nurse, etc

One day when I was 16, I had a meeting with the high school career counselors. And we were discussing Running Start. During that conversation, I was curious and asked if there are medical degrees students are able to pursue, and not just an associate’s degree. She said yes and introduced me to medical assisting by joining Career Start.

At the time I was eager to get a job for when I go to college. My family isn’t able to fully financially support me. And it can be difficult to find a job during college! But with this opportunity I was introduced, not only does it guarantee me a job after graduation and I can financially support myself, but I also get to learn more about what it’s like being in the medical field at a young age and I’m able to help people.  

 So, I joined from there. It was an awesome experience. From the instructors to the practice medical procedures in class, the friends I made, and more 

I recently passed the national exam, and I am officially a Certified Medical Assistant! My next step is to work part-time as an MA while majoring to be a registered dietician.