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While her three children were growing up, Asfa Alamelhuda gave them everything.
“I stayed home with them. I would take the kids to school, to the library, to the park,” said Asfa, 51, whose children are now 20, 18 and 14. “I enjoyed it. I feel very, very proud of myself.”
When her youngest started high school, she was driven to re-enter the workforce. Although Asfa, who emigrated with her husband from Sudan in 2002, has a bachelor’s degree, her career options were limited without recent work experience. The Arlington Heights resident took a part-time job in retail.
“I wanted to improve myself and my resume, but I didn’t know what to do. I was very lost,” said Asfa, who noticed Harper College’s Learning and Career Center (LCC) in Prospect Heights after taking her son to soccer practice. “When I entered the building, my whole life changed.”
She met Omar Sánchez, workforce careers coordinator, who explained a variety of options available at LCC, including an opportunity to enroll in courses to earn the Administrative Assistant Certificate. She could attend classes at no cost if she applied for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds, provided by Harper’s educational partners at the American Job Center in Wheeling. Asfa said that Omar’s enthusiasm and support made the difference in her deciding to enroll.
“I first said, ‘That’s too much’ or ‘I’m too old,’” she recalled, sharing concerns about her English proficiency. “He kept motivating me, saying, ‘You can do it! And you can improve your English too!’ He took me from one step to the next.”
After raising her children, Asfa Alamelhuda completed her Administrative Assistant Certificate with the help of Harper College's Paths to College and Career program.
Asfa, who has since completed her 17-credit certificate, is just one success story from Harper’s Paths to College and Career program – supported by the Innovative Bridge and Transition Program Grant from the Illinois Community College Board. Launched in January 2022, Harper’s program is designed to help displaced, unemployed or underemployed adults seeking to pivot careers and enhance their basic skills and digital literacy.
If you are unemployed, underemployed, or low-income, learn more about Harper College’s
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Paths to College and Career offerings
and support by visiting www.harpercollege.edu/wioa and www.harpercollege.edu/paths.Learn more about Paths and WIOA
After a couple of years, Paths has served hundreds of students and has grown to include a greater focus on immigrants looking for training, certificates or degrees that will help further and expand their career opportunities. Twice a week, LCC offers a basic skills tutoring lab so newcomers can discover where they stand when it comes to math, reading or computer literacy.
“Some think they’re far behind, but they find out they knew more than they thought they did,” Omar said before discussing some of the digital skills gaps that can be bridged. “There are so many people with degrees, but they learned how to use Windows 95 and they don’t know about Microsoft 365 and Google Docs or Sheets.”
That’s why the Paths program includes short, grant-funded workshops targeted to refreshing adult students’ skills before they enroll in a certificate or degree program. Provided by Harper Community Education and Continuing Professional Education, these sessions (ranging from two days to eight weeks) offer targeted instruction on subjects from computer software and grammar to professional skills and conducting online job searches.
Omar Sánchez, Harper College's workforce careers coordinator, helps connect students with educational opportunities and financial support as part of the Paths to College and Career program.
Joanna Kmiec can rattle off a laundry list of free workshops and courses that led her to begin a certificate program. Born and raised in Poland, where she attended accounting college, Joanna came to the U.S. with her husband more than 20 years ago. While raising their two children, she worked in accounting for a Chicago-based Polish company.
But after 18 years, Joanna found herself out of a job when the owner sold the business. Unemployed and unsure what to do, she contacted area colleges. Omar was the first to call her back. He explained LCC’s support services, connected her with learning opportunities and – just as importantly – helped her believe in herself.
“Omar helped me do it. He was the one who convinced me to take the English exam. He was the one who guided me every step,” she said. “He believed in me from the very beginning. And for that I am grateful.”
After learning more about current technology and how to approach the job market, Joanna, 46, began taking courses to build on her existing accounting skills via Harper’s Accounting Assistant Certificate program. Supported by WIOA funding through an American Job Center in Chicago, she is steadily working to complete the certificate next year. Her progress has slowed to taking one class at a time for a very good reason: Joanna landed a new job.
Because of the job search skills she learned in LCC workshops and the accounting knowledge she acquired through Harper courses, Joanna was hired as an accounting assistant last year.
“When I got the phone call that I was hired I was the happiest person in the world,” Joanna recalled. “And it was work specific for my certificate: accounting assistant. My dream came true.”
Joanna is now learning both in class and on the job. She said that after feeling like her world had collapsed, Harper’s staff and faculty helped present a new universe of opportunity. Finding greater fulfillment in her career, her positivity has carried over to other aspects of her life.
“My kids mentioned that I’m happier than I was when I come home from work. Everything is new, entirely different,” Joanna said. “It’s never too late to learn. It doesn’t matter if you have children ... it is always a good time for you to do something for yourself.”
Asfa Alamelhuda and Joanna Kmiec came to Harper's Learning and Career Center in Prospect Heights to build their skills and knowledge as part of the Paths to College and Career program. After beginning the program, they both landed new, and better, jobs.
Because her children are teenagers, Joanna wasn’t concerned about child care – although LCC provides Kids Care, a free child care program for students. It’s one of many of the center’s services, which include the LCC Reading Room, academic advising and scholarship support.
Harper connected Asfa with scholarships, which helped her complete the Administrative Assistant Certificate. She said her greatest struggles occurred at the beginning of the process, when she was worried about being in classes with younger students who were more comfortable with technology than her.
“At the beginning, I cried a lot. These kids do everything very fast,” she said, before remembering a moment when a younger student approached her. “One of the students was so excited to see me. She said, ‘You give me hope.’ I knew that I could not stop.”
Omar and his colleagues are encouraged by the success of Paths to College and Career students and alumni and how the accomplishments of adult learners reverberate through students of all ages.
“One of our Paths students now has her kids enrolled at Harper. We’re affecting generations,” he said. “We are also here for people who are new to the country. This is a place that respects them and can offer them what they need and more.”
Now considering an associate degree, Asfa has gotten what she needed and more from the Paths program. She recently received multiple promotions and is now working full-time as a supervisor in retail management. And she was only too happy to celebrate her certificate when she participated in Harper’s commencement ceremony in May. Her kids – and Omar – were there to celebrate too.
“In Sudan, I didn’t attend graduation and I don’t have any pictures,” Asfa said. “This was my chance to wear that robe. When they announced my name … it’s a wonderful feeling. And I have graduation pictures with my kids. I wish that everyone can know what that feels like.”