LCC grad Brianna Jones lands dream job with WIOA assistance
Brianna Jones of Greene County was working as a waitress and getting by with a little help. She was working as a waitress and was supporting herself with the tips she made from working four to five nights a week.
She began her education at Lenoir Community College with hopes to enter into the Radiography program. During her admissions process, she completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) but was ineligible to receive Pell Grant, which led her seek help from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult Program.
The WIOA program, through the NCWorks Career Center, was established to assist adults and dislocated workers in retraining and obtaining employment and it offers a mix of employment, training, and job placement services. Participants may access individual training accounts to assist with tuition, fees, books, supplies, and accident insurance.
WIOA supplied Jones with the uniforms needed for the various clinical sites she would visit. During the program, her WIOA counselor assisted her in finding an externship at Vidant Hospital as a Student Radiologic Technician, with hopes of it turning in to full time employment upon graduation.
Jones suffered from narcolepsy, which made focusing for extended periods of time difficult due to exhaustion. Her WIOA Counselor supplied her with supplemental study information to ensure her success in the program.
“I am forever grateful for the WIOA program and the staff at LCC for guiding me in the right direction and helping me stay on top of my studies in the program.”
During her time in the program, Jones endured hardships in her personal life that began to affect her grades. She realized she needed to reduce work hours at her waitressing job so that she could focus on her studies and her externship. She was working 16 hours every other weekend for her externship at the hospital as well as picking up call whenever asked.
In March of 2020, COVID-19 affected Jones’ clinical sites for her program as well as causing her hours at work to reduce. With the reduction of clinical hours, she was worried she would not meet her required hours needed to graduate in May. LCC began to run mock clinical sites so the students would be able to meet their requirements for the state exam so students could obtain their license.
Jones completed the program despite the obstacles she faced along the way with a 3.0 grade point average. With the help of WIOA covering the cost of her American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (AART) exam, she was able to pass the exam to obtain her license.
She accepted a full-time position locally while also still working her externship at Vidant. In August, Jones’ externship led her to landing a full-time position as a Vascular Interventional Tech position at Vidant.
“With the help of Mrs. Ika Grant, paying for school was no longer a worry and allowed me to focus more on school, which ultimately led to graduation and landing a job exactly where I wanted to be. Without WIOA, there is no doubt I wouldn’t have been able to finish school,” she said.
“The WIOA program helped me to worry less about tuition cost so that I was able to apply myself fully to my studies. I would encourage anyone who is looking to further their education but unable to cover the cost to reach out to the WIOA program at Lenoir Community College, it truly changed my life.”
For more information on the WIOA Program, contact Samara Taft, Director of WIOA Title I Programs/ NCWorks Career Center Manager, at sltaft27@lenoircc.edu or (252) 527-6223, ext. 111.
