Living in the small town of Jalisco, Mexico, Ramona Elledge didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. When she and her husband had the opportunity to move to Galesburg and work at the Carhartt facility, Elledge knew she had an opportunity to do something she had always wanted to do.

She began working on her GED requirements at Carl Sandburg College but was let go from Carhartt after 11 years of service when the company announced it would be shutting down its Galesburg facility.

Although she was no longer working, she was given the opportunity through CSC to go to school for free for two years through the Workforce Investment Act, and Elledge jumped at the opportunity. She has now finished her GED and is on track to graduate in May with a certificate in child development.

Since English is her second language, Elledge has relied on support from instructors and tutors at CSC to keep her on track.

“Sometimes it gets very hard because of the language barrier, but other than that it has been nice. A lot of people know me and when I need help I just go in and they help me,” says Elledge.

Elledge also uses her love for children as an incentive to finish her certificate.

“I don’t have any kids of my own and I love kids so I thought since I would get to work with kids it would be good. I spend a lot of time with the kids and I’ve really enjoyed doing that,” says Elledge.

She admits that her journey has been difficult at times but she is grateful that she has been given this opportunity. She offers this advice to returning students:

“Don’t give up. Just go back to school and choose whatever you like to do and go for it and just do it. Sometimes it gets hard but it’s not always hard. Just stick with it,” said Elledge.