WOMEN’S MARCH PAGE A7
A NATIONAL PACEMAKER AWARD NEWSPAPER
VOL. 26, NO. 3 The student publication of Washtenaw Community College
MONDAY, FEB. 25, 2018
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
DIFFERENT ROADS TO SUCCESS
CIRCLES
www.washtenawvoice.com
WASHTENAW COUNTY Building community to end poverty in our community BY
BIRD WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
ANDREI POP
| WASHTENAW VOICE
WHAT IS CIRCLES?
Anna Zaleski, age 26, a nursing student here at WCC is also a graduate from the University of Michigan. Anna received her bachelor’s degree in biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience.
College graduates return to WCC for new career paths psychology and psychiatry had I just gone to nursing the first time around.” Among WCC’s diverse stuZaleski says she was able to dent community, there exist discover her career goals through diverse paths to a successful fu- opportunities she received at her ture. For the nearly 15 percent current job, which she received of WCC students who already after getting her first bachelor’s have a college degree, this path degree. She began working at the can look like backtracking. the University of Michigan four “I think I certainly learned months after graduating from a lot throughout my process of there, on a research project at getting my first bachelor’s de- the University hospital. She built gree,” said Anna Zaleski, a WCC connections and did research to nursing student who is current- learn more about certain careers. ly taking classes at WCC after “I realized that I am super she received a bachelor’s degree passionate about psychiatry and from the University of Michigan that I wanted to pursue a career in biopsychology, cognition and in that field,” said Zaleski. “I did neuroscience. “I do kick my- a lot of research and shadowed self that I didn’t just decide to different people and I talked to a go into nursing the first time … psychiatrist, a nurse and therapist maybe I wouldn’t have gotten in the field, and asked what they these opportunities had I origi- like about their jobs, what they nally gone into nursing and may- feel about their field.” be I wouldn’t be interested in Zaleski decided to take prerequisite courses at WCC in order to enroll in an accelerated bachelor of nursing in science degree, or BSN, and then go on to graduate school to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. This way, she says, she can provide therapy and prescribe medications under supervision, while still focusing HEALTH PROGRAM PREPARATION on the holistic apSTUDENTS THAT HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE proach that nursing BY
SUNI JO ROBERTS
Deputy Editor
16.2%
Students with a college degree
THE CIRCLES APPROACH
The Circles approach combines reliable techniques with the individualized support of dedicated volunteers and the resources of organizations and communities to create an environment that educates, empowers and equips Circles participants to move up and out of poverty successfully. The Circles approach focuses on three stages: (1) crisis management and stabilization, (2) education and job placement and (3) job retention, advancement and economic stability.
LOCAL AND NATIONWIDE
6.3% NURSING STUDENTS THAT HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE
provides. Of the 1,811 students this Winter 2018 semester who attend WCC and have a college degree, which include both two- and four-year degrees, a high number of these students choose to pursue health care–related fields. For Zaleski, the stability and high median income of nursing jobs wasn’t a deciding factor, but it is attractive for many. Health-care occupations are projected to increase 18 percent from 2016 to 2026 and have an annual median wage of $63,420 compared to the annual wage for all occupations, which is $37,040 according to the Bureau of Labor
1,811
Transfer from a 4-year institution
Circles® is a unique program based on the premise that developing meaningful relationships across socioeconomic lines can have a dramatic impact on the effort to move families up and out of poverty. Knowing that relationships and connections matter, the Circles program matches a person living in poverty with two to three middle- or upper-income partners for at least 18 months to build relationships. The goal of these relationships is to break the cycle of generational or situational poverty by creating circles of support and connections with people who are committed to making real change in their community. The unique strategy of Circles utilizes education, goal setting, training and, above all, relationships to help participants develop the resources and social capital they need to rise up and out of poverty permanently and achieve economic independence. Circles believes that no one should live in poverty, that families and communities can take charge of their own destinies and that providing impoverished people with the right tools and support can and does result in achieving economic stability.
786 - less than 4-year degree
Statistics. What advice does Zaleski have for students just starting their educations? “I wish I had gotten the advice, at the beginning, to just try different things,” said Zaleski. “You don’t have to have it all figured out at 18. I remember when I was in college, at the beginning, I was like ‘wait, that’s a job?’ You know, when you are growing up and in high school you know ‘you can be a doctor; you can be a lawyer; you can be a teacher,’ and then I remember getting to U of M and I was like ‘wait, what?’ I didn’t know that that was even a job.”
Circles USA has more than 70 chapters nationwide and four in Michigan. The Washtenaw County chapter is part of Friends in Deed, an organization that addresses the immediate needs of lowincome families living in Washtenaw County. Scott C. Miller, founder and CEO of Circles USA, has this to say: “We have been conditioned to believe that poverty is an unavoidable problem of society, but what if that were not true? What if we have normalized an abusive condition that we could actually solve?”
WHERE YOU COME IN
Circles Washtenaw County is an exciting relationship-based program aimed at lifting families out of poverty—permanently. To find out more about this program and ways that your time and talents can help transform our community, please attend one of the upcoming Circles Volunteer Orientations. Dates: Thursday March 8 and/or Thursday April 5 Location: St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw Ave. in Ann Arbor. Time: 7:00–8:15 p.m. Please RSVP the program coordinator if you plan to attend: suzanne@friendsindeedmi.org If you would like to apply to be a Circle Leader and lift your family permanently out of poverty, please visit Circles Washtenaw County on the web at http://www.friendsindeedmi.org/ or contact the organization at (734) 340-9042.
Washtenaw County Building Community to End Poverty
1,025 - 4-year degree or more
2,364
Transfer from a 2-year institution
1,160
High-school graduate
5,626
Current high-school student
879
Non-high-school graduate
68
General Equivalency Diploma
456
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000 PHOTO COURTESY
INFORMATION SOURCED
| WCC ANNUAL STUDENT PROFILE
| CIRCLES OF WASHTENAW COUNTY