“I’m the first person in my family to receive a high school diploma,” advised San Diego Job Corps’ most recent graduate, 18 year old Bianca Llamas.  Ms. Llamas joined 104 other graduates at the January 27, 2012 ceremony on the San Diego center.  The graduates earned their GED or high school diploma and completed one of the center’s nineteen Career Technical Training programs.

“A friend encouraged me to join Job Corps, and when I saw her graduate last summer from Job Corps, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel,”  Ms. Llamas stated.  She will begin work soon for the Grossmont School District after completing both her high school diploma and Job Corps’ Floor Covering Career Technical Training program.  One of two student speakers at the graduation, Llamas thanked her academic instructor Ms. Jane Harris for “believing in me, when I didn’t believe in myself”.  She also thanked her Floor Covering instructor Mr. Joe Binion for the skills he taught her, and for his wise advice.

Llama’s fellow graduation speaker was Cesar Nino, who earned his GED at the center while completing the Culinary Arts Career Technical Training program.  He expressed his thanks and appreciation for his Culinary Arts instructors Chef Richard Siegiel and Chef Howard Merrick.  “They are great teachers and always encouraged me to work hard and be successful.”

Mr. Nino’s hard work resulted in his recent employment with Compass Group, an international food service management and support services company.  “I was fortunate to be one of the Job Corps students selected to work at Qualcomm last summer as part of the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s Hire A Youth Program.  It was a paid internship and Compass Group told me to contact them when I completed Job Corps.”  Nino completed his Job Corps training in December and immediately began working for the company.  “I love my job and working at Qualcomm”, he stated.  “My goals are to become an Executive Chef and open my restaurant, specializing in Mediterranean Cuisine.  My nine months of training at Job Corps gave me the tools to be successful and the rest is up to me.”