Gene Paul Cazaux

I will start with my work experience.  I started my employment history as a sales clerk in an industrial supply store.  I spent 5 years doing this and got bored and moved on to the construction field.  The trade I chose was that of a field iron worker.  The job was to install all the steel components of high rise buildings.  I did this type of work for 20 years.

At age 45 I was injured and could not work any longer on construction projects.  I knocked around at different things for a few years with no direction until I had a heart attack.  This was a wakeup call; the realization came that I did not have forever.  My girlfriend Becky, suggested I go to school to find a new direction in my life, and here I am, back in school at age 55.  I’m finding the experience one of the most personally rewarding adventures of my life.

As to my educational background, I never finished high school.  I thought this would be a hindrance, but is has not.  I’ve received certificates of completion as an Advanced Telemetry Technician here at Grossmont college; and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) from Miramar College, and now I am on my way to completing the units required to attend San Diego State University where I will get my Masters Degree in Nursing.  I am doing very well here at Grossmont College.  My GPA is 3.4 and I am a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

My education will not stop with my Masters Degree in Nursing;  I plan to continue on in research in the Cardio Vascular field. This way I hope to make a contribution to society.

Patrick Kam

I graduated from El Cajon Valley High School in 1986.  After high school I went directly into the workforce and worked for several industries in government, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications, entertainment, restaurant and most recently the mortgage industry.  With a recent layoff from my mortgage company, I decided to make another attempt at college. This would be my third try.  School had never been one of my greatest achievements.  I feared how I would fit in with the younger generation, overcome test anxiety; learn how to study again and the fear of failure.  My outlook of college was so frightening that the thought of just standing on a college campus crippled me.

Fall 2008 is my first semester at Grossmont College.  Three months ago I attended the Adult Reentry Orientation to familiarize myself with every resource available to help me adjust to college life. My short term goal is to do well in each class and stay in school. My long term goal is to earn an associate’s degree in nursing at Grossmont College and then transfer to another college for a BSN.

I am currently taking a linked Project Success English and Reading combined course and a Personal Development course in Career and College Success.  I highly recommend both of these classes.

My overall outlook about my college experience so far is very positive and I have gained a renewed confidence in myself. Aside from school I enjoy gardening, baking and running marathons.  I have completed one full (26.2 miles) marathons and several half (13.1 miles) marathons throughout California.  I feel that a marathon and college are similar, a small part physical and the rest is all mental.

Yolaine Eddington
 

I am a mother of 1 adult son and 4 beautiful grand children 1 boy, 3 girls.  I am retired from the Navy after 21 years of service.  After 32 years of going back and forth to school and never having completed any curriculum I have found it nearly impossible to secure employment which commensurate with my years of experience as a store keeper due to the lack of formal education.  I am disabled at the moment and unemployed which is one of the reasons I returned to school in the hope that I can finally complete something that I started over 33 years ago and also secure better employment in the future.