Melissa was a middle school teacher for 20 years before she became an instructional facilitator who helps kids who need additional resources and support. She loves the job, but pending local and state budget cuts are making her position precarious, and she wants to do something new.
“The education system is changing, and it is a lot harder to sustain this career,” she said. “So I’m going to have to either go back into the classroom or take a leap. And Calbright helps me take that leap.”
Melissa, who lives in Modesto, wants to shift her career into human resources – commonly called HR – and a co-worker told her that Calbright is now offering a certificate program in it.
“I totally stumbled on Calbright, and once I did I was like: ‘Oh, this is amazing!’ It’s so much easier to upskill than to go all the way back to college and pay tuition,” Melissa said. “I feel confident that with my experience I can transfer into a role in HR learning and development, but I needed a bit of a boost to learn the terminology, the ins and outs of the profession, the jargon and the structure. And that foundational structure is what Calbright is able to give me. The fact that it’s free is an absolute bonus. It’s great.”
Calbright’s education and training is also, she emphasized, “not fluff.”
“I’m going to be honest with you, it is a lot more work for a free program than I expected it to be,” she said. “But it’s time well spent. I’ve taken a lot of professional development courses, and often it really does feel like you’re just jumping through hoops to check the box or whatever. But at Calbright I’m getting valuable learning from the time I spend on my classes.”
It really helps, Melissa said, that classes are flexibly paced and she can learn on her own schedule. “There are days, sometimes whole weeks, when work has been heavy and I am mentally exhausted. This week, I haven’t even looked at anything, but I know that over the weekend I can power through and get some of my coursework done. It’s really nice to be able to set my own schedule and study when I want to. I love this human resources program because I can get just what I need, how I need it, when I need it, and so it doesn’t add stress.”
She also appreciates the way Calbright’s Competency-Based Education model allows students to test through areas that they already have skills and knowledge in, shorten their courses, and focus on what they really need to learn.
“If I already have mastered that skill, I don’t have to take all of the assessments and do tasks that go with it, and that saves time,” Melissa said. “Those pre-tests have saved me a great deal of time and energy, and what we all need in life is a lot more time. The courses are very thoughtfully put together, I’m a big fan of how it’s all set up.”
Melissa says she is an independent learner and Calbright courses are designed to be completed independently, but she added that every time she has needed support an instructor or support counselor from Calbright has been right there.
“My instructor, Michele, has been wonderful,” she said. “Even for things that are not necessarily class related, she’s been very helpful, a wealth of knowledge for me.”
That’s why she’s recommending Calbright to everyone she knows.
“It blows my mind, truthfully, so I tell everybody. I’m like: ‘Oh, there’s this program at Calbright College, you should do this!’ or ‘You’re thinking about leaving your job or expanding your professional skill set, you should try this!’ Because if you’re going to give your time, which is such a precious commodity, the program needs to be worthwhile and valuable in order to move you in a direction that you want to go to meet your goals and help you establish the future that you want. And this course, this whole program does that.”
