Aria Porraz, Kalamazoo, MI, self-identifies as Hispanic and is an education major at Western Michigan University. She has been working as a DCW for 2 years to pay rent while in college, plans to work with children, loves animals, reading and yoga, and works full-time for a home care agency that provided training on specific topics such as dementia.
Aria likes the agency because they pay $10.75 per hour with health insurance benefits, give her FT flexible hours, and show appreciation with monthly awards and thank you cards. She says it’s a great job for college students. “You get to meet a lot of different people. A lot of the clients that I have were educators themselves. I get to listen to their stories and will be able to apply that into my future work. It’s very rewarding. There are hard days but it’s nothing that you can’t get past, and the relationships that you form are what keeps you coming back. I can’t think of a better job to do while I’m in college that I would enjoy as much. Working in a restaurant or retail, it sounds boring to me. So, yeah. It’s fun work.”