Hi my name is Gintana Mahatha.
I’m a hard working mother of 4. I was born June 30, 1975 in Charlotte, N.C. I’m married and have been with my husband for 16 years. But we have only been married 2 years. I did not graduate, and now I’m working on my GED at CPCC. My goals are to get my GED, get a good job, and one day I hope to own a home. My hobbies are reading, shopping and home design. I’m now in a program called Pathways to Employment. The program will help me get a GED and skills I need to move forward in life.

The Right Path

My name is Lavarus Alexander and I am attending CPCC.
I am in the Pathways to Employment program. There are different courses that you can register for. I chose the Office Information Specialist course to work on my typing skills, so that I can pursue a very well paying job. I come from a rough upbringing. My mother was on drugs real bad, and my father stayed in jail, so the drug dealers in my neighborhood became my parents and also my role models. I dropped out of school in the 8th grade to live the illegal life. Now that I am older and wiser, I want to better my future and focus on a career. I want to become a role model to my wife, step children, family and friends. Just like Martin Luther King had a dream, I have a dream. One day it will come true.

Life Is Like One Giant Puzzle

My name is Sharon Miller. I am attending Central Piedmont Community College; through the Pathways to Employment. I am also attaining my General Education Degree. Upon graduation, I plan to come back and study for an Associate's Degree in Business Administration. My first week here at Central Piedmon Community College has been a great experience. I have learned a lot about typing, writing blogs, and meeting new people. I missed out on a lot of my education, as well as, becoming aware of my goals. I have about 20 years of work experience under my belt, but there has always been a stumbling block in the way of me moving up the corporate ladder due to my lack of education. It is the missing piece of the puzzle that I do not have. I am hoping to change that now.

Dree vs. Roddrica

My given name is Roddrica but I’m known in the streets as Dree. I was raised in Southside Holmes with my mom as the only child but I have a step brother and sister. My father moved in with us two years after he got out of prison. I was six years old around this time and it seem like I was really getting to know him. We always went skating, fishing, to the movies, and bowling. Although we had good times we always shared our bad times. My mother was a straight hell raiser and she always acted like she loved to argue and fight all the time. When my parents split up after being together for 17 years, it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to me. Now I am in Pathways to Employment and everything is going great. I’m finally doing something I want to do.

MY LIFE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

Hello, my name is Tiffany Cooper. Some people call me TIP for short. I am 36 yrs. old, and I have 3 children. My daughterwho is 15, my oldest son who is 14, and my baby boy who is 12. I have recently decided to go back to school to get my GED and a certificate as an Office Information Specialist. Just fancy words for 'secretary'. LOL... Why go back to school now, at 36? Well for two reasons actually: 1. My children: I'm always getting on them about the importance of school and how they should do their best. Now how do I look, fussing at them about school and I don't even have my GED? Let's get real! Children do as you do, not as you say, so I'm doing school. 2. I want a real job, yall. Not some BS that anybody can do, but one that I was trained for specifically, with benefits. Plus, I have all these skills and no one wants to even give me a chance because I don't have the educational background required to obtain a job. Let me tell you something, if you have the skills, but no education, then you can forget that 'Super Job'. Holla if you hear me! Well my life has had it's share of ups, downs, and all arounds. From being sexually abused from the age of 6 until the age of 13, momma's boyfriend's putting knives to my throat, and guns to my head. To being raped at the age of 19, getting pregnant with my daughter and making the decision to keep her at the age of 20. I have had good boyfriends and absolutely violent ones. Run ins with the police, social servicestaking my children, living from house to house, until finally, here I am. Where is that you ask? CPCC in school, my own home, kids in school doing good and I think I finally found, 'Mr. Right'. My life, like many was and is a little complicated, but that's life. I have finally realized I need to get the best out of life, instead of letting it get the better of me. I am still growing, still learning, and still praying.

Hello!.

My name is Sandra Lopez. I am twenty nine years old. I am from the Cactus land most people know with the name of Mexico.
I have living in Charlotte, NC since 2007. I have found a lot of opportunities here. I am happily married with a wonderful man. He is from Pittsburgh,PA. We have been married for two years and three months.
I am a pets lover. My favorite hobby is sewing. My passion is peace & love. One of my virtues is always seeing the good side in a typical situation. I like Beach living and love water sports. I like to be around people that appreciate waking up and just being happy to be a live & healthy.I also appreciate the opportunities that I have during my life, freedom is one. My freedom gave me the opportunity to travel, explore, and meet different cultures. I may not be too smart but my mind & life has had unforgettable experience's. I am good listener. I have no problems with patience. I am open to learn anything, at any time. Some day I would like to be the voice of all of the people, like me,that come to America with limited English. I want to show them the way to take advantage of the opportunities that this Country gives us.

The Magic Carpet- Tate

My name is Tate formerly known as “Tha Great One!” I gotta stone cold groove ya digg? And imma ride this wave ‘till the breeze knocks me off understand me!? So you better aboard the magic carpet or you going to miss out on the miss out on the spectacular fantasy to tour! I’m a cool kind cat to be a good looking brother. I don’t speak too much on the wrong subjects unless it’s profitable. You know, don’t speak unless spoken to. Tate loves the opposite sex! For all of ya’ll who kinda slow, that means Tate loves women! I really don’t have much sand in my time glass for people without common sense na’ mean? Like come on get the….heck around me with all that Joe blow nonsense you talking. Like now! Oh, my bad. I had got kinda angry there for a minute. I forgot you were there. Sorry. Tate gotta BEAUTIFUL solider name Jaiden Amari Marcus Tate. He is the best thing to happen to me since I fell in love with the natural green trees, which the earth produces every day! But yo, if I told you what his mother did recently, you’d be like “That’s F’d up!” But I don’t know you like that to be dishing all of my business to ya! He my heart tho. I have been through some things in my 22 years on this earth in this body, but like a true stone cold “groova” , Tate always bounce back like a round ball hitting the floor. Back in ’05 I had to rough this human up because he was disrespecting my little cousin. Unfortunaly HIS SISTER stabbed me twice. Once in my inside left elbow and once in my sexy belly. Now anit that some issh’? Your sister? GET REAL! Ha! You need to pull your….Oh dang, my fault. I did it again; almost forget you was there. But yeah, your boy has been threw it! My mama beat me with a metal baseball bat! I didn’t have a place to stay in 2007, until my cousin Joe Dime took me in. Thank God for that because it’s rough trying to find some where to lay from night to night. I dropped out of high school in 2005. Why might you ask? Because I couldn’t play basketball! I know that might seem crazy but, school was very hard for me and basketball was one thing that I wanted to do. I knew I had to keep my grades up to play ball and I did just that. I won a state title with my teammates and we were winning and winning big! I, of course, was the star of the team and I began to get noticed by colleges as a possible recruit for their basketball program. Unfortunally I was the leader of a school wide protest against my cruel and evil principle. Ronald Ballistic was a leader also. Long story short, he kicked me and him out of the school entirely. Just me & him! That made me ineligible to play out my senior year and when I heard that news, it just broke me into pieces! I got into an “F” it mind state. “What! I can’t play no ball!? No Scouts?! Well “F” it, I not going back! Basketball is what made me want to do my work and without it, I had no reason to come. Boy was I WRONG! But today is a different day! I got my boy in my life now, so I had to makes moves to better his life, so I went back to school to learn. I’m at CPCC taking up some female stuff but it’s cool because I’m around lot of women! Me and La’Varis. I want to graduate and get a job in the cool A.C. and hopefully there will be a lot of other females surrounding me! Oh, I came back to school because I wanted to learn more of what I didn’t already know. I got the desire to do so by looking at my lil’ solider! Prey for me and those who are around. Maybe on my next blog I will get into deeper issh’ with you because I know ya a little bit now. Lol. Holla at me Tho!

My Every Day Life- Sarah A.

Hi, my name is Sarah A., and I am currently taking the Career Pathways Office Information Systems program here at the downtown Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina (which is also known as the Central Campus of CPCC). To be more specific, the classes which I am taking (keyboarding in an office atmosphere, financial literacy in the workplace, and on job skills) are in the Central High building.
The Central Campus of CPCC isn’t lacking in food, either. There is a café in the library on this campus, along with a Bojangles right across the walkway next to the Terrell building, and also a hot dog stand in close proximity to the Giles building.
By the way, the Central Campus of CPCC is located on Elizabeth Avenue here in the city of local downtown Charlotte. The Central High and the Terrell buildings are located right across from each other. The Giles building is just a short walk from the Terrell building and at a diagonal proximity to it.
Apart from my student life at CPCC, I read lots of books and watch plenty of interesting movies, both of these interests of mine being factual and fictional in context and/or plot. I also do a lot of cooking for my Mom and Dad for our weekly (and sometimes biweekly, depending on if I cook our delicious yet healthy beef stew or not) dinner meals. I am now almost a complete expert at cooking beef stew and preparing the ingredients needed to make this recipe.
I love to listen to the music which I have on my IPod Nano and the music I don’t have on it online at www.youtube.com. (You can click on the link if you want to.) Just make sure you do so as a fun activity at home. That’s normally what I do.
Well, that’s pretty much it. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post. Hope that you enjoyed reading it.
-Sarah A.

No Fears, No Barriers- Jade

As a child, I used to have high self esteem, always very secure about myself, and felt I could do anything I wanted. In school, I always tried to be the best I could be. People used to tell me how much they enjoyed being around me, because I was funny, sweet, caring, lovable-all the good comments anyone can imagine.
I was given a scholarship seventeen years ago in high school, to go to Baruch College for Business Administration. It was taken away because I was not a legal resident at that time. That frustrated me. I could not go to college, after all the effort I put in trying to be a good student. Suddenly, lots of things changed. I was a 24/7 mom, and never worked because I decided to dedicate all of my time to my children. I do not regret everything I did for them, because that was my job. But, I did forget about myself. I started suffering from low self esteem. I had a fear of everything. I felt I could not do anything right.
It’s taken me years to overcome these fears. Now I am 35 years old and feel I have a second chance. I am not taking it for granted. I want to feel that I can be useful and successful, not only as a mother, but as a human being. I want to leave Pathways with another point of view of life. Hey, I’m just starting! I know that with a positive attitude I will become a better me.

Introduction to Brandie

My name is Brandie. I am twenty-six years old. I have four children, ages 9, 5, 4, and 3. Three rambunctious boys and one beautiful little girl. I am currently a single parent that has been unemployed for the last year or so. I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Fifteen months ago, I put my now ex-husband in prison for domestic violence. I thought my life could only move onward and upward. I was more motivated than ever to do what I needed to do in order to take care of my children. I went out everyday looking for a job. I was walking up to five miles a day. I was rejected every time. My bills started to pile up and I started to get discouraged.
One day, I was told by an old man in a bookstore that being ignorant and having no job experience in this economy was the funniest thing he had ever heard. He laughed in my face. You see, I never finished high school. I got pregnant at sixteen with my first child and dropped out. My mother left and moved to Michigan, and I was alone, sixteen, homeless, and with a three month old baby. I met my husband when I was 20. I was not allowed to work. (One of my husband’s controlling rules.) So here I was, no education and no job experience. The doors kept closing in my face and I didn’t know what to do.
I heard about the Pathways program through a neighbor went through the classes. I decided that’s what I would do. I would get my education and a great job. I wouldn’t need welfare, and I wouldn’t need to rely on my family so much. In Pathways, I will be done with my GED and my Office Information Systems Specialist certificate in four months. I will get a great job and I will have the life my children and I deserve.
My life is already so much more than it was. There is something to look forward to, to reach for. There isn’t anyone telling me how worthless I am. Only my fellow classmates who stand behind me as we all reach our goals together.

Introductions

Here's a little about us...