It Worked for Me!

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It’s Never too Late for Dreams to Come True

As a little girl and as an adult Janice Cantrell dreamed of one day becoming a Registered Nurse. She wanted to go overseas and work as a missionary nurse and help the impoverished.

Cantrell chalked it up as a dream and never thought it could be a reality.

Just five years ago, Cantrell was working an average of 60 hours a week as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) to raise her family as a single mother.

It was about that time a woman inspired Cantrell to think about going back to school to become a nurse. Conversations led Cantrell to look at different schools and ways to finance her college career. She heard about RochesterWorks! and soon met with a RochesterWorks! training advisor and learned about available training grants.

“Maybe I would not have tried to go to school if it hadn’t been for the funds,” Cantrell says.

She took a leap of faith and started in the Nursing program at Roberts Wesleyan College and was able to secure some $10,000 through RochesterWorks! for the last two years of her schooling.

Cantrell graduated last spring with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing after four years of attending class, keeping her grades up, working part time and maintaining a family.

Working as a RN at Highland Hospital on the Medical/Surgical floor was once Cantrell’s dream and now it is reality.

“I really appreciated all the help I did get from (RochesterWorks!),” Cantrell says.

1/2008