Name: Jacob Buckley
Age: 19
Center: Cleveland Job Corps
Region: Chicago
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Career Area: State Tested Nursing Assistant
Dates in JC: January 19, 2016 – July 18, 2016
Military Branch: Army
“If it wasn’t for the Cleveland Job Corps Center I would have never made it this far,” disclosed Jacob Buckley. “I would probably still be jumping from homeless shelter to homeless shelter.” This 19 year old young man came from being home-less to becoming a State Tested Nursing Assistant and a newly recruited soldier in the Army. Mr. Buckley thought that Job Corps would be just another temporary shelter, but he quickly realized it was so much more. He was at home now, sur-rounded by love, a structured environment and nurturing family of students and employees that continually encouraged him. Cleveland Job Corps Nursing Assis-tant Instructor, Carla Widener and Testing Coordinator, Sandra Talley worked tire-lessly to make sure Mr. Buckley’s succeeded. It paid off as Mr. Buckley has earned his High School Diploma and Nursing Assistant Certification.
With interest in serving his country, he enlisted the help of Cleveland Job Corps Career Transition Readiness Coordi-nator, Denneth Campbell who contacted an Army Recruit-er and walked Mr. Buckley through the entire process. Af-ter passing the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Bat-tery (ASVAB) entrance test, he was scheduled for the Mili-tary Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to swear in, get a physical, drug test, and choose an occupation. Mr. Buckley plans on saving his money and eventually attending college to get a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. His advice to current students is for them to focus on their education and not get involved with any negative behavior. “One of my biggest learning experiences in life was you can’t change your past, but you can change your future and that is what in-spired me to always look forward,” explained Mr. Buckley. Jacob Buckley wanted to extend his deepest appreciation to Denneth Campbell, Carla Widener, Sandra Talley and Army Recruiter, Sargent Dante D. Brown for all of their cheers, hugs, and direction.