Natalie trained with her truck driver stepdad for a little bit before coming to California Career School. MyCAA funding and the ability to receive a lot of drive time is what helped her choose CCS. MyCAA is the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts method of funding for student tuition available to military spouses. Natalie’s husband Oscar was deployed during her attendance at our school and his being in the military opened up this avenue of funding for Natalie. We just helped her get the paperwork arranged.

One of the hardest parts of training was pre-trip and 5 point. She laughed as she explained why she made this hard for herself. “Parts of the truck– I didn’t care to learn it. I hated it! I had a little bit of stubbornness. What Donnavin [CCS instructor] did is take the time to make sure I knew it.”

“Start from the beginning!” Donnavin repeated to her over and over to make sure that everything was reviewed as many times as possible. After regular training hours were done, he showed her additional material like power points and books– whatever was available to help her understand this key section of the course. “I just wanted to drive!” Natalie said, “But I knew I had to learn it.” With the right attitude and the extra push from her instructor, she made it through.

We talked for quite some time. Natalie had tons of stories of what she’d seen on the road from her towering cab, some much better shared after hours! There would be strange people hovering by her truck for miles and police activity of Hollywood proportions, “I’ve seen the SWAT team, 5, like 10 cop cars– it was just like loaded!” She put it this way, “You’re gonna see things that you don’t want to see because you’re constantly on the road.”

“I’ve always wanted to drive a truck… I knew it was going to be hard but you don’t really know until you’re out there.” Numerous times, especially in the realm of parking her trailer, Natalie described the unusual set-ups that drivers have to maneuver through and the inconveniences posed by the circumstances. It is absolutely regular for her to park her truck and be told afterwards that male counterparts could have done it better. “You have to be strong,” she went on, “especially when you’re a girl ’cause the guys are mean.”

Since the beginning, Natalie wanted to break the expectations of what women can do and of what others think of female truckers. “It’s not easy, but what helps me is I get to be a role model. [On the road] I like being next to school buses because the little girls see me– they’re smiling and waving. Kids in cars say, ‘Mom, look!’”

Author: Sarah Bantay

Many California Career School students utilize assistance available through area workforce centers and the EDD in order to fund training programs. One type of assistance is the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Passed in 1998, this law was enacted with the intention of compelling business to help develop the workforce. The name itself explains it as an act that invests in the workforce.

CCS graduates like Kirk Wahrman and David Hinds from our security guard program both obtained funding through this method. Trucking grad Jose Hunter and auto repair grad Tin Nguyen paid for school in this fashion as well.

Funding qualification is determined by your local workforce center.
Contact the Admissions Department today at 1(800) 499-6585 for a list of local workforce centers
You can also email us at admissions@californiacareerschool.edu.

Author: Sarah Bantay

Additionally, Cesar regularly earned high grades on his tests from CIAT, the California Institute of Automotive Technology. “For any prospective employer,” says instructor Rick Powell, “I would strongly recommend adding Cesar to your team. He has proven to me to be very dedicated and dependable.”

Cesar was coming out of Fresno, CA and had been experiencing various difficulties affecting his employment. During his enrollment, he was unemployed. “When I came here,” Cesar described, “[I] wasn’t even looking at [the automotive repair] course.” We asked him then, why did he end up choosing the tune-up/emissions course? “I started out with low riders,” he said about his previous interests. “I took my car to a shop and didn’t know what was wrong.” Cesar explained that if he could fix something himself, why not learn how to do it?

To pay for the course, Cesar was awarded a full Pell grant. “He came in to the financial aid office,” said Michelle Markling, financial aid advisor, “[and] complied to all of my requests expediently. He was like, ‘boom, boom.’ Seriously, in record time!” When students apply for federal aid, the process is often lengthy and requirements are much more stringent. “He has done a fabulous job with himself,” remarked Michelle.

Now that Cesar is done with his course, again we want to congratulate him on his exceptional achievements at California Career School!

Alex needed to secure a way to pay for school– a struggle that many students across the country have always experienced. “I appreciate what the school did for me. They used their expertise to find me the best financial resources for my situation.”

What Alex was referring to was being unable to obtain training funds through key agencies like the EDD/WIA and he also did not qualify for federal student aid. On top of this, he was unable to use his VA benefits because his daughter had been utilizing it for her education.

To combat these hurdles, California Career School assisted Alex in his search of alternative funding options. By making use of the military veterans’ discount that California Career School offers and by placing him with an employer partner who offers tuition reimbursement, Alex’s tuition cost was covered 100%.

Alex completed our training program at the top of his class, obtaining both his Class A and Class B license on his first try. “I know I got the best training at California Career School because when I went to the DMV, it showed. The other school’s student looked like it was the first time in a truck.”

Now that Alex has completed all 300 hours of his training, he will begin his truck driving career with Werner Enterprises. “I am looking forward to getting started. This is something I have always wanted to do. After my recent lay off and just celebrating my 47th birthday, I felt this was the perfect time to fulfill a lifetime goal.”

Author: Sarah Bantay

We want to congratulate another US Marine who attended our Truck Driving School in Southern California for passing her CDL test on the first try.  Connie is very special to us because she was from Camp Pendleton and we love helping US Marines.  She actually was granted a full scholarship to attend our Truck Driving School in Southern California because she was not eligible for Tuition Assistance.  We had hundreds of US Marines use their Tuition Assistance program to attend our California Career School just this past year with a 96% success rate of receiving a real career after separating out of the military with no previous training or experience.

Semper Fi,
Chuck

Connie wrote us the following letter:

“I wanted to get my CDL because it’s what I know. I grew up around trucks and equipment and I’m a mechanic in the Marine Corps. My Grandma is a truck driver and drives long hauls with her husband as team. Just recently my Grandpa had surgery and isn’t able to drive like he used to, so my Grandma is counting on me to help her drive across country when needed. I also have a job lined up helping my cousin drive his truck so I wanted to be able go to school and help my Grandparents when needed and not worry about losing my job.

I heard about ************** and started taking their courses. I would go at lunch time to do the class time and then I was driving on Saturdays. I tried to attend driving classes during the week but they were usually gone by the time I got off work. I felt like I was imposing on them by asking them to come in on Saturdays. One day I ran into one of the instructors that used to work there and he asked if I was still going through the course with **************. I told him that I was having difficulty getting drive time based on my schedule. He then told me that they changed the rules and you now have to have 200 hours before you can take the DMV test and that I should check out California Career Schools.

I was pretty discouraged at that point and thought I might have to wait until I got to Texas and practice on my Grandma’s truck. I realized I really needed to get my license before I went on terminal because my Grandma hasn’t had an income for a while and she is counting on me to drive with her as soon as I get back home.

Although I was discouraged, I contacted California Career School and they told me that they could develop an accelerated training plan for me and that I could obtain my CDL before I went home. To make a long story short, California Career School lived up to their promise and reputation and I obtained my CDL last week on my first try with a very high score.

I would wholeheartedly recommend California Career School to any military personnel who is interested in obtaining their CDL. After attending both programs, I can say that the CCS program is a better program.”

Sincerely,
Connie Fowler

P.S. Connie was not eligible for Tuition Assistance and did not have any money to pay for this program, so California Career School gave her a scholarship that covered all of her training expenses. Good luck helping your grandma drive the family trucks Connie!

I began training with the California Career School while I was still on active duty with the Army. California Career School allowed me to do my training on weekends (military personnel only) up until the time I was ready to test at the DMV. I was also able to use tuition assistance through the military and the company i drove for paid back my portion of what was left after tuition assistance.

After driving over the road, I now drive local and see my family every night.

Joe Droegemeier”