Melissa Becomes an RN (Success Story)

Melissa enrolled in the WIOA Adult program in 2019. She worked full time earning $13.75 per hour while going to school full time. 

Melissa graduated from State Fair Community College in December with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing. She passed the State Board and obtained her Registered Nursing license earlier this month and is now employed full-time as a Registered Nurse earning $30 per hour. That is a $16.25 per hour wage increase! 

Melissa says…

‘Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise’ Frank Ocean. Honestly, this is my motto.

I do not like to talk about what I am doing, but when Jaci asked me to do a success story for the WIOA program, I thought someone else might need a little kick in the butt as well. So here it is.

Financially I would say that my family consistently struggled, but I worked 2 or 3 jobs to help pay the bills and keep food on the table for my 3 kids. When their dad died of an overdose, I had the realization that something had to give.

I was either going to be stuck in the same boat always working multiple jobs trying to pay the bills, or I was going to do something about it. I decided to pursue a nursing degree. I was 36 when I started the program.

Giving up my job wasn’t an option, nor was working an extra job. So, this is when I turned to the Job Center. I used the money from the WIOA grant to help cover the expenses from classes while I was working through school to keep the bills paid.

When I finished with my LPN license, I knew that was not enough of an income jump from my current salary to make much of a difference and when I presented my case to Jaci, she worked her magic and they agreed to help until I finished with my RN.

My salary jumped from about 26k a year to around 60k as a RN. It is nice to know that I have finally reached a point where I do not have to worry about how I am going to take care of myself and my kids.

Congratulations, Melissa! We’re proud of you!