The staff at Opportunity Junction made me want to aim for the stars - so I did!
It's been a year full of changes and reinvention in the workplace. Tenisa Pelesauma, graduate of Opportunity Junction's first ever fully remote Administrative Career Training (ACT) class 62, knows that better than most!
Tenisa's first big change came when her job driving a commercial truck ended in May 2020. The money was great, but Tenisa was terribly unhappy and ready to find a new career. She knew she wanted to get into the administrative field to provide stability for her two young children and to utilize her strength in customer service and her passion for helping people. Opportunity Junction's ACT program had the training she needed with the flexibility of learning remotely.
Tenisa had heard amazing things about Opportunity Junction through friends and family who were alumni. She says, "I had always wanted to join the program because I had heard about how life-changing it was. I knew the administrative field was where I was supposed to be, but I never had the time or the space to do it until COVID19." When the pandemic hit, Tenisa left her job to quarantine and be with her kids. She couldn't think of a better time to join the ACT program and take this next step in launching the career of her dreams.
After completing the ACT program, Tenisa was very selective in her job search. She exclaims, "This time around I decided I would not settle for just anything. The staff at Opportunity Junction made me want to aim for the stars - so I did!"
She was selected for a final interview with Corteva Agriscience in Pittsburg. Tenisa was interviewed virtually, via Zoom, by a panel including Frank Kolsut, an alumnus of class 54 who was hired as a temporary Document Manager Administrator in 2018 and has since been promoted to Administrative Assistant.
Tenisa was thrilled to be offered a great job as Corteva's Document Administrator, working fulltime, remotely. She will now be one of 5 alumni proudly employed by Corteva Agriscience. She explains, "It all came full-circle when I realized Frank was a fellow alum."
Tenisa gratefully explains, "I owe it all to Opportunity Junction for believing in me and helping me gain the confidence to believe in myself. I will now be able to provide stability for my kids! During this challenging season of distance learning, they were able to witness my graduation. I was able to show them that you can do anything you want to do, and to me that is the greatest takeaway!"
