After 13 years at the General Motors plant in Moraine, Debbie Bradley is putting her future into the next gear.
When the assembly plant was shut down in December 2008, Bradley had already begun planning ahead.
“The way GM was going, I started looking at plan B just in case,” she said. “I came (to Sinclair) and got everything lined up.”
When Bradley accepted a buyout from GM in July 2009, Bradley, 36, was already enrolled at Sinclair in hopes of finishing with an associate’s degree in Nursing.
“I knew as soon as I took the buy-out that (Sinclair) is what I wanted to do,” she said.
After waiting more than a year, Bradley, who now works at Good Samaritan Hospital as a patient care technician, started the Nursing program this quarter thanks to the Accelerated Admission for Academic Achievement program.
The AAAA program was “developed to encourage students to be highly successful in core courses and reward these students for academic excellence by allowing accelerated entrance into Life and Health Sciences programs,” according to www.sinclair.edu. The Web site said the Nursing program is allowed to admit up to 25 percent of entering students each quarter based on academics instead of placement on the eligibility list.
“The medical field is something I’ve always wanted to be in and I’ve always wanted to go back to school,” Bradley said. “I was just never able to fit it into my schedule when I was working.”
Sinclair President Steven Johnson said the college offers a comfortable environment for displaced workers.
“It’s very difficult for these students, but they do well,” he said. “Sometimes they feel like they are out of place or are afraid they will be out of place, but they come here and they realize that they are not. The adults are the ones that blow the curve because they are such good students.”
Bradley, who drove a fork lift during the majority of her time at GM, said the biggest difference she has noticed since becoming a student are the lack of days off.
“Your days off are just not your own,” she said. “Even when you’re not (on campus), you are dedicating your time to studying. It’s tough to keep up with family and I’m working now, too. Trying to balance it all and keep my grades up has definitely been a challenge.”
Bradley said she isn’t making half of what she previously earned at GM and she isn’t receiving any financial aid because she accepted the buy out.
“It is nearly impossible to receive financial aid, but Good Samaritan (Hospital) is helping,” she said.
Bradley wouldn’t say if the buy out from GM was a blessing.
“I lost a lot financially,” Bradley said, “but this is what I always wanted to do.”