“What do you want to do for a career?”

My name is Erica Ewert and I work for Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) as their Intermediary. I get to work with wonderful communities like DeWitt and their K-12 school system to help prepare students to answer, “What do you want to do for a career?” I connect with businesses throughout Eastern IA in hopes of encouraging them to offer work-based learning (WBL) opportunities to students within their communities. These opportunities allow students to experience real-world/hands-on activities that can give them a greater insight into a specific field or pathway. These activities also allow students to interview, tour, and job shadow at a career of interest.

I myself didn’t have support when I was in high school to figure out what career I was interested in. I was a senior when my parents told me I had to apply to colleges and figure out what I was going to study. I wasn’t the best at school, and never really found that thing I was good at. I really could have used someone like an Intermediary that would have talked with me about my options and how to figure out the best path to a profession I enjoyed. That is why I am so passionate about what I do and how I can help students reach their future professional goals.

I was one of the lucky ones that finally found their place, even if it took me twenty some years. I do the work I do because I don’t want a student to have to wait that long to find where they fit. I started this role in November of last year, and since then I have helped 1,113 students throughout Eastern Iowa complete some sort of work-based learning experience. My hope is that this experience has helped them decide if they were on the right path, or perhaps even the wrong one. Either way, they were able to experience a career of interest that would help them decide their future direction. 

I serve students in Clinton, Jackson, Scott, Muscatine and Louisa counties, the EICC service area. I am a Quad City native and really look forward to learning more about all of my communities and the businesses within. I have an invested interest in helping communities retain their students and help them see all of the professional opportunities that their community offers. I am making it a priority to get to know the businesses in and around DeWitt. If you are a business/industry that would like to connect to discuss how you can offer work-based learning opportunities to students in the DeWitt and surrounding area please feel free to reach out to me at eewert@eicc.edu.

I look forward to working with YOUR community.

Erica Ewert

563-336-3321

Intermediary & Work Based Learning Activities Coordinator

IIN

Eastern Iowa Community Colleges

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EICC is an EEO/AA/Titles VI, VII, IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA Institution. For a complete copy of our statement, please visit www.eicc.edu/eeo

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