Throughout Alyssa’s childhood her family moved around a lot. Her upbringing wasn’t always positive. Her happiest moment was when she graduated from high school because no one believed she could do it. After graduating, she pursued cosmetology because that was what she had been pushed into doing. All her life she had been told that she wouldn’t be able to do anything else. She was told that she wouldn’t do well in regular college. She soon found herself with student loans and in a career field that she wasn’t enjoying being in.
A friend told her about the culinary program here at Goodwill. She was excited to learn about the Youth Barista Training Program which was something she had always been interested in. She quickly enrolled and is proud of how well she is doing. She is continuing to work on her self-confidence and believing in herself and her abilities. “It’s hard when all your life you have been told that you won’t be good at anything”, she said.
Alyssa recently graduated from the program and is looking forward to her new job at Paesan and one day hopes to go back to school to get a degree. She would love to be a counselor for children or work as a case manager.
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