By CVTC News Bureau
The phone wasn’t ringing for Cheri Bremness. After a six-month job search, she landed one interview – because of a connection her mother made. That can happen when your resume says you haven’t been working for five years.
But Bremness expects things to start to turn around for her after her recent graduation from Chippewa Valley Technical College’s Information Technology-Network Specialist program. And she doesn’t regret one bit her years of absence from the workforce. She had someone more important to take care of, namely Airiana Bremness, her child with special needs.
CVTC honored 674 graduates in 47 programs at the May 8 spring commencement ceremony. The associate degree nursing program was the most popular with 65 graduates, followed by business management with 43 grads and truck driving with 41. Many of those graduates overcame obstacles while seeking their degrees, but for Bremness the obstacle was more like a mountain, with love providing the energy to get over the top.
A 2005 Cadott High School graduate, Bremness worked in manufacturing after high school. At age 20 and single, her daughter was born – by emergency C-section.
“They didn’t let me see her right away,” Bremness said. “There were complications.”
Never mind the scientific names for them all, but little Airiana had multiple developmental problems, including some affecting her heart. She was hospitalized for six months after birth, being transferred between Marshfield, Milwaukee and Rochester, MN, depending on which problem was being addressed.
“Every week we had to travel to see different doctors,” Bremness said. “I was not able to work because of all the surgeries.”
There were 12 or 13 surgeries before Ariana reached age 7 – Bremness has lost count. Thankfully all were successful.
“She’s doing amazing,” Bremness said. “When you look at her, you wouldn’t think anything was wrong with her. She’s great. She goes to Cadott Elementary, and she loves school.”
Bremness continued to live with her parents, Larry and Roxie Bremness, whose support has been tremendous.
She started looking for work when Airiana was 5, but made no headway. “That’s when I decided to go back to school,” she said.
Bremness says she chose the IT-network specialist program because it sounded interesting to her. She came with little background in computers, and felt a bit overwhelmed at first.
“When I first started, I was looking around saying, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I was ready to quit.
But Bremness found help through the friendship of a classmate who also was having difficulty, and from her instructors, whom she found extraordinarily helpful.
“I was not afraid to ask the instructors for help, and they always offered help,” Bremness said. “They sat down and explained things to me to help me understand better.”
Instructors also were patient with Bremness when she had to miss class because of time conflicts involving Airiana. “As long as I gave them the heads-up, it was OK,” she said.
With the help she received, Bremness’ uncertainty over what she was doing turned to confidence. She ended up achieving a 3.8 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and graduated with an average of about 3.73. “I’ve been on the President’s List every semester,” she said.
“Cheri has become one of our standout students,” said IT-network specialist Instructor Brian Goodman. “She has a great work ethic and always strives to do her absolute best. I have been immensely impressed with her enthusiasm, drive and determination to be successful in the program.”
Cheri has been using her the skills she’s learned helping people around Cadott with their computer problems, but she’s not going to dive into full-time work in the field immediately. She’s exploring further education in business management.
Bremness is disappointed she wasn’t able to attend the CVTC graduation ceremony. Once again, her daughter’s needs came first.