“Fresh Start has helped me see more of a future for myself where I can feel success.”
Rylie* aimed to feel financially stable and self-sufficient enough to leave her parents’ home and live on her own. Looking for a means to an end, she and her stepfather started researching local job opportunities in the semiconductor industry.
“We started looking up semiconductor training online and that’s when Fresh Start popped up.”
She hadn’t heard of Fresh Start previously and was excited that a program could give her the foundation needed to quickly enter the workforce.
“I didn’t know there was such a big support system like Fresh Start… And I do think I’ll enjoy this career.”
She applied to the semiconductor cohort and began studying to become a technician in Spring 2024. As the course began, she was challenged in several areas including the speed of the curriculum. She wondered if she would be able to learn and retain everything fast enough. Once the course transitioned to hands-on elements, she thrived.
“The model-based problem solving had everything on it so you could actually see the impact you were making.”
Due to the course’s speed, she was also nervous about taking quality notes in preparation for the test at the end of the term. She committed to studying and taking thorough notes. Rylie felt honored when a classmate came up to her after the exam and expressed how much her study guide helped her.
“I’ve never been good at studying, but I ended up creating a study guide for anyone who needed it in the class. I had a bunch of notes littered with sketches and got the concepts down on paper. I’m proud of that.”
After the test, Rylie was enthusiastic about her growing potential and bright future, as it became closer to reality.
“I do think I’ll enjoy the career itself. I like messing with technology and playing around with it as much as I can, and the labs were really fun. I’m hoping this will be a good job for me that I can delve into.”
Before coming to Fresh Start, Rylie defined success as simply being able to pay for everything, but now she has higher goals for herself. She noted that success now looked like long-term financial self-sufficiency and freedom.
Looking back on the course, she was proud of herself for sticking to the process even when times got hard. In the past, she attempted and failed a web development class because she fell so far behind and never asked for help along the way.
“During the web development course, I ended up not going to the last day because I felt like I hadn’t contributed anything to be able to present with my team. So, with the semiconductor class, I’m extra proud to finish strong.”
In fact, Rylie finished the semiconductor course so strongly that she only missed one question on the final exam.
“I know I can do what I put my mind to. I can succeed and even exceed my own expectations. I really exceeded my expectations here in the semiconductor cohort because I didn’t expect to get almost one hundred percent.”
Even with such a great finish, Rylie still struggled to see herself as an inspiration to others, especially people who are neurodivergent like her.
“I’ve struggled a lot to push myself forward, to get myself more schooling… any kind of extra education or knowledge, especially anyone with ADHD or someone neurodivergent, to show them that like hey, I can do this.”
Rylie hopes that she and her fellow classmates will all keep in touch after completing their exams, especially after they built relationships that allowed them to succeed together.
“I worked well with my team, and we kept each other reminded of coursework to make sure we finished everything and graduated from the program. We all have a group chat together and I hope we can keep in touch.”
The future is bright for Rylie and through her time at Fresh Start, she learned that she can and will experience further success in the years to come.
“I feel like there’s a lot of successful people in my family and sometimes it feels like I can’t measure up to that, but this program made me feel like, ‘Yes, I can get there!”
After graduating from the semiconductor class with Fresh Start, Rylie was hired by Kelly Services for a position in the semiconductor industry as a Radical Runner at Intel.