Brittney Aker

My professional journey began in 2018, but my real transformation started in 2017 when I made the decision to get clean and completely change my life. Before that, I had been struggling with drug addiction and had only worked in restaurants, waiting tables and doing restaurant management. After getting my GED, I had no idea what direction to take, so the people at the Career Learning Center were fantastic in helping me explore options through college tours and aptitude tests. When I toured the technical school, I fell in love with plumbing. It seemed more fun and fast-paced, and I loved that it was something new every day. It's like Legos for adults. I was the only female in the plumbing program, which was intimidating at first, but it ended up being absolutely fantastic and gave me a lot of self-worth that I didn't have previously. Life threw me some major challenges along the way. I had two kids and was in an abusive domestic relationship. In January, I left that situation and came back to Rapid City, starting over with absolutely nothing. But I found the One Heart program, which has completely changed our lives. Even through all of that, I graduated with my associate's degree in July with full honors. I wasn't going to continue, but the staff at One Heart encouraged me, reminding me that if I could accomplish that much in a bad situation, imagine what I could do in a supportive environment. Now I'm eight months away from completing my bachelor's degree in business management because I want to go further in the field and eventually work in business management with a nonprofit. I want to be able to help other people in the way that I've been helped and show my kids that you don't just chase the paycheck. You strive to do better, you bust your butt, and you put the work in so that you can have a better life.