Alexandra Williams wanted to change careers from a low-paying job as a nurse assistant. Her brother works in robotics, and she knew she could earn more money and advance her career faster in the high-demand field of robotics. She secured a scholarship through the state of Michigan for a robotics technician program at Oakland Community College. But then she hit a roadblock: she failed the qualifying entrance test to enroll in the program. Her math skills were too low. “If you don’t use that math, you lose it,” she explained.
But Alexandra, 32 years old, was determined. Oakland Literacy Council zeroed in on the specific math skills she needed relevant to a career in robotics and provided her with one-on-one tutoring as well as an online curriculum. “Oakland Literacy helped me to quickly build the specific math skills I needed,” she said.
Alexandra enrolled in the 16-week robotics program, graduated, and quickly had three job offers as a robotics technician. She accepted an offer from FANUC Robotics in Rochester Hills and begins in January. During the interview, she was asked about her math skills, and she felt confident she had the skills for the job. “I’m really excited,” she said. “This is a career I can grow to love. The world will be running off robots in the future.”
