Amayrani Vargas leveled up in her career in just a few weeks with Oakton's CDL program.
Amayrani Vargas was looking for a way to level up in her career when she discovered Oakton’s Commercial Driver’s License program. With help from the Workforce Equity Initiative, Amayrani received financial assistance—and a whole lot of encouragement.
Taking a chance on the road “My family grew up traveling and driving. We would drive to Mexico from Chicago twice a year. It would take us two nights and three days. But we enjoyed it and we would prefer that over an airplane. As an adult, I have always had hands-on jobs like snow plowing, scrap metal processing, and now I work at a warehouse. I get to see the people outside in the yard moving the trucks back and forth. And one day I said to my co-worker, ‘Let’s go get our CDL.” But she said no, she’s too scared. And I said, ‘Well, I am too! But if we don’t do it, and challenge ourselves, we’re never going to do it…and we could make so much more money!’ I was really thinking about my kids, and the future. So I learned about the program at Oakton and reached out, and I was enrolled in a couple weeks. I didn’t expect it to be that fast, because it was a spontaneous decision, but about six weeks later, I had my CDL.”
A new view from behind the wheel “At first, driving a semi truck was scary. My first few days, I would shake and I would be like, I can't do this. But I had a really great class and it was very motivational. Nobody was judgmental. The instructors are very understanding. They guide you step by step, they won't just throw you in a truck. And you learn something new every day. You always have to be aware and expect the unexpected, know what's going to happen before it happens. It’s a good challenge.”
New roads lead to new opportunities “My intention now is to get experience at my current job by moving the trucks in the yard, while I also look for something where I can drive locally—I want to stay local for now because my kids are young. But in the future I’d like to be over the road. We're in such a bubble, but when you travel, you get to see everything. And then also I want to explore being a trainer and teaching other people how to drive. I feel like as a woman, it would encourage more women to get into the industry. I would love that.”
There’s no limit to what you can achieve “I got to bring my kids to the program and they got to go inside one of the trucks and they were like, ‘This is so big!’ And I told them, ‘Yep, it's hard, but you know, when you get older, maybe you can learn how to drive it too.’ They were so excited when I passed my exam. They were cheering for me, ‘You passed! You passed!’ That was my moment of: Oh, this is what I did it for. Because we only have one life to live. Sometimes we are our own enemies and we limit ourselves. But I took the chance, and now I have knowledge that I’ll always be able to take with me.”
‘This is so big!’ And I told them, ‘Yep, it's hard, but you know, when you get older, maybe you can learn how to drive it too.’ They were so excited when I passed my exam. They were cheering for me, ‘You passed! You passed!’ That was my moment of: Oh, this is what I did it for. Because we only have one life to live. Sometimes we are our own enemies and we limit ourselves. But I took the chance, and now I have knowledge that I’ll always be able to take with me.”