Before immigrating to Canada in 2012, Amandeep had worked as an elementary school teacher in India. Despite having a Master’s Degree in English, she found it difficult to find a suitable job here, since her teaching credentials were not transferrable. She ended up working long, seasonal hours in a greenhouse and in retail, becoming depressed and thinking, “why did I come here, to work this kind of job?”
Since Amandeep’s husband was unwilling to help her upgrade her education and she had a young daughter to care for, she couldn’t see a way out of her situation until an ACS settlement worker told her about AbbotsfordWorks.
After assessing Amandeep’s strengths and interests, her employment counsellor recommended she become an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) as it would pair her love of children with her teaching experience.
Amandeep received assistance with her tuition, book costs, daycare fees and transportation. Within a year of contacting AbbotsfordWorks, she graduated with an Honors ECE Certificate from a private college. Her husband is now “so proud” of her accomplishment and realized he made a mistake by not supporting her initially. She even had a job lined up with a local preschool before she graduated, and is now working there full-time. Amandeep says, “I can’t even explain how happy I am. My insides are happy.”
