Letter: Opportunity

Published 12:15 am Saturday, February 19, 2022

Oregon has the opportunity to support its future workforce in achieving our dreams. Across the state, hurdles like affordability of transit, housing and technology make it difficult to find good-paying careers. I know firsthand how hard it is to get the credentials needed, while also working to pay the bills.

Before I finished high school, I knew I wanted to work as a maritime engineer. But it was a struggle to do my maritime program and finish high school at the same time, and I also needed to work night shifts in order to support my family.

It’s hard to describe how exhausting it is to juggle so much, but many Oregonians across the state live this struggle. My GED program advisors at Clatsop Community College connected me with Oregon’s Youth Development Division and Northwest Oregon Works. I gained access to rent assistance, and got the computer I needed to complete my school work during the pandemic.

The support I got was crucial in getting where I am today. Now, I’ve earned my GED and am enrolled in a seamanship program.

Every Oregonian should have the opportunity to work hard and achieve their dreams, just like I am doing. That’s why I hope the state of Oregon makes more investments in the education, apprenticeship programs and support services I was able to access so that anyone across this state, in the same situation as I was in, has the same shot at success that I did.

ADA GUTIERREZ CASTANEDA

Astoria

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