Nothing That’s Worth It Comes Easy

It’s easy to lose sight of the end when you’re in the middle, but SJVC graduate Annie Ferla is proof that the end – finishing school– is worth every step of the middle.

“It is refreshing to know if you have a goal in mind, a wish list of what you want, and you work hard enough you will land your dream job,”says the Visalia campus Health Care Administration graduate.

Annie was offered a job even before she finished her extern and last term of school. For a few months she juggled roles as student, employee and a mother of two, but she knew the end result would be worth every overwhelming moment.

Annie is now where all college students hope to be after graduation: working a job she loves, for someone who, according to her, “couldn’t be a cooler doctor. She’s nice, she’s funny and she takes care of her employees.”

Annie has already made huge differences in the doctor’s office. From the outset the office admitted to have serious cash flow problems. Using the skills she learned in school, Annie recovered thousands of dollars for the office in only three months. Her efficiency and training has allowed her to replace two other employees from the office.

Annie’s success and confidence in her skills has allowed to her find high degrees of satisfaction in her work. “I love picking up the mail in the afternoon and seeing money come in that was previously just sitting in a file and giving this to the doctor and seeing her face light up,” said Annie. “I’ve helped to take a lot of stress off both my doctor and the company.”

Although Annie had seven years bar tending experience previous to SJVC, it was not the professional job she was proud to tell her kids about.

“I am not just doing customer service jobs anymore,” said Annie. “I have a big girl job now, not a frilly little kid job.”

With a college education and a stable job she is now able to give her kids a better life. She is grateful she can show them that she started going to school, finished and now has professional job.

Her advice for students mid-program?

“Nothing that’s worth it comes easy. You can’t be handed a job on a silver platter, you have to work for it. Stick with it and you’ll get recognized, you’ll get offered a trip to Washington D.C, you’ll get offered a job. Walking across that stage at graduation and knowing you did all the work will be an amazing feeling.”

After seeing a commercial for SJVC, Annie jumped right into school. Finishing the program in 14 months, Annie urges students to push through the quick, condensed schedule and not take days off here and there.

“You can’t miss a couple of days and decide to take a leave of absence. You have to stick with it. If you don’t work hard for this you won’t go anywhere.”

Annie takes pride in how successful she was while a student at SJVC. Being a 4.0 student with perfect attendance and being picked to go on the Washington D.C trip, this was a huge change from not finishing high school and only completing three years of junior college.

From day one she knew she was going to love billing and coding. She is grateful for the training SJVC has provided.She believes without the program she would not understand everything that is essential for her job.

Congrats Annie! We’re proud of you too!