Page 42 - SKILLS Workforce Development Guide 2021

time ago,” she says of her career transition. “I love solving problems, and cybersecurity is intellectually and financially rewarding for me.”
SIOBHAN WHITE
For 37-year- old White Plains resident Siobhan White, her first career was a reflection of one of her greatest desires in
life. “Out of college, I knew I wanted a family,” White recalls. “I decided to start my career as a nanny for other people’s children so that I could eventually have a child of my own.”
White has now been a childcare provider for 15 years and says she
has enjoyed it immensely – especially after giving birth to two children. But an unexpected event in that role led her to consider another career entirely.
“A few years ago, one of the children that I cared for ended up in the ICU
at Boston Children’s Hospital,” White says. “I wanted nothing more than
to be able to physically care for him but because his situation was so precarious, only the nurses and doctors were able to care for him. He unfortunately passed away at the age of three, and ever since then,
I have felt the pull to become a nurse myself.”
As an adult with two children of her own, White was nervous to jump back into the life of a student – but soon found a welcoming environment at Westchester Community College (WCC)
in Valhalla. “I shortly realized that I
was one of many adult learners at WCC, and there is so much that WCC has to offer an adult student in terms
of flexible online classes, affordability and even counseling for difficult times,” she notes. The college even offers
an on-campus childcare center to help adult learners with children.
Currrently, White is a third-semester nursing student, transitioning to a
new full-time career as a registered nurse (RN) – and scheduled to graduate this December. She is especially grateful of her choice to change careers today. “I never imagined
when I started the process of taking pre-requisites for nursing, that
we would be thrown into a global pandemic and suddenly become frontline workers,” she adds. “This adversity has only made me more proud to become an RN.”
Manufacturing is thriving in the Hudson Valley, and Tompkins is proud to support the Council of Industry in their efforts to build a workforce of talented individuals interested in the field. Workforce development is crucial to the success of manufacturing here in our community, so please join us as we work together to build a sustainable apprenticeship program and develop the future leaders of the industry.
40 SKILLS What’s Hot. What’s Next. What’s Needed.