Noelia Santiago is a Brooklyn resident of Starrett City, a community of nearly 6,000 apartments and 15,000+ residents. She graduated from high school in 2021 and took two gap years to decide what to do with her future. A friend recommended that Noelia participate in SYEP in order to earn a paycheck and provide some direction.
Noelia signed up for the SYEP program at The Opportunity Hub. She was placed in Starrett City’s own community center and became part of a team dedicated to serving her own neighbors. The site coordinator encouraged her to enroll in the SUNY ATTAIN program and begin the MOS certification courses.
She was able to apply her ATTAIN coursework to her job placement as an SYEP office assistant in real time. Her Microsoft Word knowledge allowed her to create documents, flyers, and business correspondence easily. Noelia achieved a near perfect score on the certification test, raising the average score for the Dr. Betty Shabazz Lab to the highest in our region for Microsoft Word 2019.
Her certification also landed her a permanent, full-time position as an Administrative Assistant with The Opportunity Hub. She is planning to further her education with the Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint courses.