WINNING AT LIFE WITH EVCC TRAINING
BACK-UP CAREERS PROVIDE GRADUATES WITH OPTIONS IN TIMES OF CHAOS
FREDERICKSBURG, VA— The Career Services Department at Eastern Virginia Career College (EVCC) partners with many local businesses and facilities to assist in filling their job openings. They continuously inform students and graduates of the opportunities to start or upgrade to a new job.
Cynthia Rothell, Director of Career Services, says, “We communicate directly with hiring managers, circulate flyers, send emails, and announce job fairs (in person and virtual) to place our graduates where they are called to dedicate their talents to serve others. We are especially excited about establishing a cooperative relationship with the new Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic being built across the street from our campus, to help fulfill their mission in providing care for our military veterans. Many of our nursing cohorts include veterans at EVCC and they would be an excellent fit there.”
EVCC is better known for its accelerated degree programs in nursing and occupational therapy assistant, and popular certificate programs such as clinical medical assistant, esthetics, wax technician, and massage therapy. The college’s roots stem from originally being a small beauty school when it was purchased 20 years ago by the current owners. They have continued to offer courses whose graduates can enjoy a lifetime of job opportunities in the wellness, beauty, and spa industries.
Natasha Henderson first became acquainted with Eastern Virginia Career College in 2015 (then named Career Training Solutions) and enrolled into the Esthetics Program. She had initially wanted to take the Massage Therapy Program, but a cohort was not scheduled to form again for a few more months; she was eager to change her life’s direction immediately.
Henderson remembers thinking, “I knew myself well enough that if I had waited to start the class, I would talk myself out of it. I was 34 years old and had a son about to start grade school. I wanted to take that small daily free time opportunity to do something with my life in terms of a career.”
She graduated the Esthetics Program in 2016 at the top of her class and recalls, “It was challenging to learn how to effectively juggle a child, a husband, and college—but I did it! It may have been the best time management training I’ll ever get. Next, I spent two years working in my field and loved it so much that I opened my own Spa in the second year.”
EVCC kept in contact with Henderson, as they endeavor to do with all alumni, and invited her to teach Esthetics at the college. “I loved my experience as a student there so much that I jumped at that opportunity,” she says.
Life gave Henderson a bit of chaos in 2018 when she found herself in the midst of a divorce, which thrust her into becoming a single parent with a thin support network. She recalls. “I made the craziest decision in the middle of all that to enroll in the Massage Therapy Program. I knew that I needed to add skills to my tool belt that would help me make enough money to support myself and my son. Also, I think I thought that the ‘distraction of having school work to do’ would take my mind off of my seemingly crumbling life. Days were exhaustive between working at the school, taking my own clients at my spa, and juggling the home responsibilities alone.”
Henderson believes she would not have managed to graduate without the support of her new family of instructors, coworkers, and classmates who encouraged her to keep pushing forward when life got overwhelming.
She says, “I look forward to where my dual licenses will take me in life, and who knows, maybe I will have the ‘insane’ notion to go for another diploma. The Master Esthetics Program is calling my name next. After all, I know that if I could complete a challenging course not once—but twice—during a very challenging time in my life; surely I can do it again, and that would triple the opportunities in my professional career.”
EVCC’s Career Services Department is available to assist all graduates who have successfully completed their program of study.
