Taylor came to Michigan Works! as a single parent who was a high school dropout. She often worked two jobs to make ends meet. Her education had major gaps due to bouncing between public education and homeschooling. She began working with Youth Career Advisor, Jessie Trumble, hoping to advance her education and get her GED.
With Jessie’s help, Taylor began by working on increasing her basic skills, then began tackling tests one at a time. By mid 2018 Taylor had taken and passed her science, social studies, and language arts tests. Knowing that the math test would be more challenging for her, they began working and building Taylor’s math skills from the bottom up. Sometimes it was hard for Taylor to give studies her full attention, as she was trying to be a mom and support her young daughter as well. With Jessie’s help, they set goals and Taylor did her best to follow through.
In March 2020 the covid pandemic began, which made meeting and keeping Taylor on track more difficult, but Jessie and Taylor did their best to adapt. By January 2021, they were mostly meeting weekly to continue to work on Taylor’s math skills. Although there were a few bumps in the road, Taylor had finally gained the skills needed to pass her final test.
Thanks to the help of Michigan Works! and Youth Career Advisor Jessie, Taylor received the educational support, tutoring, and assistance she needed to purchase her GED ready and GED exams. She finally receive her GED, which was her goal.
Taylor says she is forever grateful for Jessie’s understanding during the times she was unable to follow through on assignments and meetings. She is also grateful that Jessie believed in her and that she could be successful. Taylor realized that no matter how big the task – it can be accomplished. Sometimes you just need to break things down in small pieces and set goals.
In the near future, Taylor is looking to enroll at Kirtland Community College.
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