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Student Feature
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help because help is available no matter what walk of life you’re coming from or where you’re trying to get to.”
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Many of us at Coastline are working students or trying to be working students. Whether you’re just starting to enter the workforce, or you’re looking to pivot to something new, the job search can be draining. Spending copious amounts of time on resumés and cover letters just to get an automated rejection email or no response can be extremely discouraging and taxing, especially for college students. You may question what you’re doing wrong or feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.
We’ve all been there, and to be frank, it sucks. But luckily, with Coastline’s Career Services, we don’t have to weather the job search storm alone. We can get helpful tips and critiques on resumés, and cover letters, attend in-person and virtual career workshops, job search strategies, and more—but of course, don’t just take my word for it!
For this week’s Student Feature, I spoke with Coastline Student La Tasha Petersonlee, who shared her inspiring story of determination and using Coastline’s resources to get her where she is now.
As she’s explored various majors at Coastline, she says she enjoys the freedom Coastline provides students to be able to figure out what they want to do. Currently, she is studying interdisciplinary studies and plans to transfer to Humboldt Polytechnic to get her B.A.
In our conversation, La Tasha opens up about how she discovered Coastline, the school’s support during hard times, and how utilizing Career Services aided her in landing a job with the City of Los Angeles!
Photo Courtesy of La Tasha Petersonlee
Discovering Coastline
La Tasha had been working as a breast cancer research coordinator when she first heard about Coastline. All the radiologists, technicians, and physician assistants would always talk about the school, and though she didn’t know what it was, she decided she’d give it a try. “One of the radiologist technicians said it was one of the best-kept secrets for attaining an AA degree, and I wanted to know what the secret was.” She says. “It has been the best thing that has ever happened to me scholastically.”
While enrolled in Coastline, La Tasha was also enrolled in Northern California State University of Dominguez Hills, where she earned her project management certification, which allowed her to get positions higher than those she had previously held. She says that through every step of the way, Coastline was there with their support. “Coastline has always been there to cheer me on and lead me in the right direction to any of the education or material I needed to build my rapport with these organizations as I continue to stay in school. I’m highly, highly, appreciative of them.”
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She also notes the support she received from Student Services during the times she was homeless. “I contacted the Student Services offices, and Dean Schonfeld was kind enough to get in touch with me. She gave me a call and said she’d give me resources and referrals, and that’s what she did.”
The first resource on the list Dean Schonfeld had given her was the Downtown LA Women’s Center, where she was provided with shared housing, and was later introduced to the Salvation Army Housing program that supported 60% of her rental cost. Now, she lives in an apartment she won off a lottery from an application she had placed years before. “Stay in touch with counselors and the school personnel,” she emphasizes. “That is really, really, crucial because Dean Schonfeld got me off the streets.”
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Using Career Services
La Tasha had known Career Services was there for students to use, and when she found herself needing help with her resumé, she reached out to Dr. Paolo Varquez for help. “I just needed my resumé rewritten and didn’t know how to go about it because I wasn’t successful with finding a job on my own,” she says. “He rewrote my resumé and got me here to this job. Coastline is very marketable and profitable in terms of what students can get out of it.”
When it was time for her to apply for jobs, she noticed that her experience with applying differed from other experiences. “I see this being long-lasting for me because of all the outlets that assisted me with getting here. The other jobs that I applied for were simply just applications that I was completing. I was practically wasting my time because I didn’t have all of the click words to use on my resumé to get into any industry.”
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She applied for three government positions with the city and county of Los Angeles and the State of California, which was exciting for her, but she also faced uncertainty over which opportunity to take and turned back to Dr. Varquez for advice. “He said, ‘Take the first opportunity that comes your way.’ And I did.”
She took the city’s job offer, and though it wasn’t her first choice, nor did she get all the jobs she applied for, she says it wasn’t about getting the job. “It was an eye-opener. What made me feel good after so many years was knowing that I was qualified. Although I may not have passed the examination with the county, at least I was qualified. That felt good.”
Photo Courtesy of La Tasha Petersonlee
Encouragement for Other Students
La Tasha encourages students to take advantage of the resources that are available to them. “Get in there while the help is available and utilize all the tools you can. Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she emphasizes. “Don’t be afraid to ask because help is available no matter what walk of life you’re coming from or where you’re trying to get to. Stay in touch, and don’t give up.”
