Finding Your Way — the Life-Changing Experience of a Student in the Community Learning Center's Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program

Mary Beth felt lost. In the span of 3 years, she had lost both her parents and her job of 27 years. "I didn't know what to do," says Mary Beth. Then, she remembered what her mom whispered to her before she died. "You should go be a nurse," her mom had told her. "You are good at caring for people, and you would enjoy it."

"I met so many caring and inspiring people while caring for my parents. There were the ambulance drivers, CNAs, nurses, doctors, and so many others who make up the team of caregivers for patients," Mary Beth explains. "I felt a genuine calling to become one of them. I want to make sure that when patients and residents are at their most vulnerable, a trusted caregiver is right by their side."

Mary Beth started looking for classes to train to become Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). "One afternoon, after fruitless searches on the internet trying to find CNA training courses, I gave up and started to Google swimming pools near me. Lo and behold! On the right side of the page with information about the pool, was a column about becoming a CNA at the CLC," Mary Beth shares with a smile.

In February 2024, she started the CNA Training Program for Fluent English Speakers at the Cambridge Community Learning Center (CLC). Students in the training program take classes at the CLC twice a week and clinical classes once a week at Labouré College of Healthcare in Milton. "Between the class lectures at CLC and the labs at Labouré College of Healthcare, I gained comprehensive knowledge of everything a CNA would encounter," says Mary Beth. "I also met people who shared the same passion about caregiving."

In June, Mary Beth graduated from the CNA Training Program for Fluent English Speakers. She shared how the experience changed her life in her graduation speech - "CLC is the place that set me on the path I am on today," she says. You can watch her full graduation speech on YouTube.

Mary Beth passed her CNA exam and is now working. Every year the CLC helps hundreds of adult learners like Mary Beth to find a way forward.

Have you been thinking about starting a career in healthcare? The next CNA Training Program for Fluent English Speakers starts in March 2026. Learn more about our CNA Training Programs and sign up for an information session!

Photo caption: CNA students practice skills in a clinical training class.