Growing up in San Francisco and West Los Angeles for most of his life, Michael Mikael always thought of himself as an artist. “I enjoyed doing more creative stuff…more artistic endeavors,” he says. This carried on to his college life, when he went to Loyola Marymount University to study fine arts and communication.
After graduation, he worked as a a freelance graphic designer for 10 years, creating logos, posters and websites for smaller publications. In the 2010s, however, technology advanced and graphic design tools like photoshop and Canva became accessible to nonprofessionals; Michael began to feel as though the industry was collapsing. “It wasn’t as lucrative as it once seemed,” he lamented.
Micheal decided to make a career change. “I was looking for something that had a little more value to my day and something I could feel positive about… something that I valued and respected,” he says. For a while, Michael felt like he didn’t know where he could fit in.
That changed when he came across JVS SoCal’s CareerWork$ Medical program. This program helped him gain knowledge in medical sciences and medical terminology. It also taught him to communicate with people at different levels within the workplace. Michael began to see his confidence grow thanks to the support he was getting during his training. He mentions how instructors and other students played a huge role in his experience from the course. “Everyone was collaborative… I received a lot of feedback from the students which helped me not only gain my confidence but also have the wherewithal and knowledge to pursue a career.”
After completing the program, Michael was hired as the Administrative Coordinator at the New Center for Psychoanalysis. Through his journey, JVS SoCal was there to support him through it all. Micheal says, “For people that are in a crossroads of their career and are unsure about what they’re going to do next, I would highly advise taking a JVS SoCal course.”
If you’re inspired by Michael ‘s story and would like to help someone else achieve their dream, please donate today.