When Hannah Coppa, 20, came to Opportunity Junction, it was out of a sense of desperation. Although she had worked since the age of 16, she had been laid off from her job at the golf course, and she couldn't find work.
Hannah's relationship with her parents was turbulent, and she had moved out at age 19. After the layoff, she sent out hundreds of resumes and, over the course of six months, scored only one job interview. "Before I came [to Opportunity Junction], I just wanted a job because I needed a job, because I needed money," Hannah recalls. "I just figured I would take whatever I could get. I was pretty insecure."
At Opportunity Junction, Hannah worked with Catherine Warren, Director of Counseling, to address the issues she had with her parents and her underlying insecurities. "It really helped," says Hannah. "My relationship with my parents has totally improved, and I talk to my mom almost every day now."
It also helped, Hannah explains, "to realize that I really am pretty good with computers, that I'm not half bad." In fact, Hannah was selected as the Technology Assistant during her internship, imaging computers and performing other desktop maintenance tasks in addition to her administrative projects.
Hannah left Opportunity Junction in December with a position as receptionist at a law firm in San Francisco, and she is thrilled. "I never thought that the job that I would get would be this good job in the City. I love the City! I have always loved the bigness of it -- you're this small little person with so much going on around you." Meanwhile, she and her boyfriend Barrett have moved into "a great house, with cable and Internet" right here in East County.
When the reception desk at the office is quiet, Hannah is learning the firm's filing system, and she loves reading up on the cases the firm is handling, though she won't mention specifics. She hopes to attend school to become a paralegal, but in the meantime, "It's just so much fun to be there!"
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