About

From Employment Blues to Green Job

Just a few years ago, Dawn Bassette was a single mother of four with no real job skills and few prospects. “I was not working; I couldn’t even get a job at McDonald’s, it seemed like,” she admits. “I realized I was going to have to get some computer training, some kind of diploma underneath my belt.”

I could actually accomplish this, I could actually do something.

Through a program at her local social services office, she had the opportunity to attend a session conducted by representatives of National’s Knoxville Campus, including Director of Health Care Education Rhonda Epps. Dawn and Rhonda bonded quickly at that chance encounter, and not long thereafter, Dawn came to the campus for a tour. Feeling like she had been put down most of her life, Dawn remembers being brought to tears during her visit, thinking “ I could actually accomplish this, I could actually do something.”

Originally enrolling in the Medical Office Specialist program, in her second term Dawn took her first accounting class, “and I loved it.” She decided to change her major to accounting, and after a self-described tough road, she completed the accounting diploma program last February with a 3.0 grade point average.

Through National’s employment network, Career Center Director Terrye Whitaker became aware of an opening in a local engineering firm and submitted Dawn’s résumé. After an interview, Dawn was hired for the job as an administrative assistant, or “Girl Friday,” as Dawn puts it.

I just feel like I’m truly blessed.

Her employer designs, installs, and operates environmentally friendly decentralized sewer systems. “I do a little bit of everything, I guess,” Dawn explains. While her accounting skills are important in maintaining the company’s billing system, “the other things I learned like computer classes and whatnot are actually helping me now.”

“It’s been a struggle, but now my children are talking about going to college,” Dawn says proudly. “I just feel like I’m truly blessed.”