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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesJOB CORPS SUCCESS STORY IS JUST THE BEGINNING

JOB CORPS SUCCESS STORY IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Rusan Alexander was 16 when she came from Dominica to St. Thomas three and a half years ago to join her parents, who had moved to the territory a little earlier. Her mother, having heard that someone that old couldn't get into the V.I. public school system, followed a lead she had received about the Job Corps and persuaded the teenager to apply for admission to the mainland program.
Although Alexander was reluctant to travel to a land that was foreign to her, especially so soon after being reunited with her parents, it turned out to be a positive experience in both education and motivation.
Through the efforts of Advantage Resource Group, the Job Corps agency for St. Thomas and St. John, she was accepted into the Delaware Valley Job Corps Center in Callicoon, N.Y., and went on to pass her high school equivalency examinations there with very high scores and to complete clerical training.
Then the center helped her to enroll in the nearby Marist College for a semester on a trial basis. After she earned above-average grades there, the Job Corps sent her to Sullivan County Community College, with the stipulation that she maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.0, or C. She did a lot better, making the dean's list several times.
"Job Corps is normally a two-year training and education program for young people ages 16 to 24," Advantage Resource Group administrator Carmen Nibbs-O'Garro says. "Due to her exceptional abilities and her proximity to completion, Alexander was given an extension." Last December, she completed her studies for an associate of arts degree with a major in journalism.
Alexander herself says Job Corps "was quite an experience for me. Definitely there were good times and bad times." She recalls having to leave the Delaware Valley housing facility early on cold winter mornings for college classes and not getting back until after 8 p.m. Even eating required some adjustment, as "the food was very different to what we ate back on St. Thomas and in Dominica." But her efforts were worth it, she says, for "my accomplishments have overshadowed all that."
She credits part of her success to the encouragement and support the Job Corps staff provided her. At Delaware Valley, she was active in the center choir and a Big Sister mentor to new enrollees, helping them adjust to life there and taking part in peer mediation. She was also voted Student of the Month.
Her associate degree is just the start of her career path, though. The daughter of Mariana and Thomas Alexander aspires to become a lawyer, and she has a plan in place to reach that goal. She has enlisted in the Air Force and, after having been home on St. Thomas for a couple of months, will leave for basic training shortly. While she is in the service she plans to continue her college studies under the G.I. Bill.

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