Jane Thompson, now 26, is from the West Humboldt Park neighborhood, where she was struggling to make ends meet working at food service jobs.
“I worked hard and wasn’t making enough to live on, I was barely paying for transportation to and from work,” she told News Bulletin.
Jane graduated from Bethel New Life’s collaboration with TMA’s CNC milling and turning class in November of 2015. On the night she graduated, Atlas Toolwork’s CEO Zach Mottl walked up and offered her a job on the spot.
“It was like a dream,” she said. Jane says she tried a college course in computer programming and found it overwhelming, but the class size and excellent trade instructors at TMA made all the difference for her.
“Jack Krikorian is a great teacher, God bless him,” Jane said. Krikorian’s renowned teaching style and unlimited patience helped Jane stick with the program, and graduating boosted her confidence all around.
“I have goals to accomplish now, and TMA really did give me a lot of confidence that I can actually finish something,” she said.
“With that being said, I’m unstoppable now.”
From TMA’s August 2016 News Bulletin