ESL: Work Voices

KQED
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Work Voices is a series of interviews with former ESL students who are employed in vocational areas that offer interesting and feasible opportunities – areas that ESL students may not have thought of, but highlight possible career paths for immigrants.

Episodes

  1. 05/13/2013

    Environmental Coordinator: What Helped You Choose Environmental Studies

    Elizabeth Sarmiento is from Honduras and works as a project manager with Valley Verde, a non profit company based in San Jose. The company provides gardens and supplies to low income families, and Elizabeth and her colleagues teach the families about nutrition and growing their own food in a way that yields healthy food while having minimal impact on the environment. Elizabeth describes her journey working odd jobs and attending evening classes to learn English. She transferred to Foothill College and joined the ESL program, eventually moving to De Anza College to study in the Environmental Studies Department. She describes all the different employment options in the environmental studies field. For example, she talks about opportunities in water conservation and water resource management and in landscaping which is a huge field in itself. There is also the option to become an educator in any of these fields. Elizabeth emphasizes that almost any job can promote sustainability and awareness of environmental impact. Work Voices is a project developed in partnership with a cohort of colleges and adult schools in Silicon Valley. It presents a series of authentic interviews with former ESL students who are employed in vocational areas that offer interesting career opportunities – areas that ESL students may not have thought of, but highlight possible career paths for immigrants. Find more videos @ kqed.org/workvoices

    1 min

  2. 11/09/2012 · VIDEO

    Sustainability Specialist: Challenges

    Elena Olmedo was raised in a bilingual home, her parents having immigrated to the US from El Salvador. She now works for an energy efficiency firm in Berkeley. She describes her interest in sustainability and how she navigated her way through the range of career options that this huge, emerging field offered her – whether in business, law or policy etc. Elena talks about the green and sustainable business certificate program at City College of San Francisco and the understanding it provided of environmental issues relevant to business and industry. She then took advantage of all the resources available to her to explore possible career paths. For example she interned at two different companies to gain experience of green marketing practices and environmental policy issues, and attended conferences and lectures and read papers and journals to learn all she could about sustainability issues. Clearly it is challenging to learn about this varied and confusing field and to decide on a focus; waste reduction, transportation, urban design, or energy conservation etc. Elena explains how important it is to find your path. But she is also clear that there are tremendous opportunities, whether in installation, policy or planning and that the industry is growing and will continue to be new and exciting, and ideal for someone who cares about the environment and sustainability issues. Find more videos in this series @ kqed.org/workvoices

    1 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

Work Voices is a series of interviews with former ESL students who are employed in vocational areas that offer interesting and feasible opportunities – areas that ESL students may not have thought of, but highlight possible career paths for immigrants.

Information

  • Creator
    KQED
  • Years Active
    2012 - 2013
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2012 KQED
  • Show Website
    ESL: Work Voices