Erica

“I feel right now actually deep down, I don't have a home,” says Erica Austin. “I feel like I don't know where I want to be in life.”

For ten years, Erica worked as a dental assistant in Portland. On the side, she took classes at PCC, building toward her associate of science degree. Then she became a receptionist. Then the pandemic hit.

The business shut down; Erica’s position was eliminated. She began working as a cleaner in the same business, but had to go on disability because of the physical labor. She found herself unemployed and adrift.

In 2021, Erica moved to Bend with her mom to save money. She got a job working at a call center at a hospital there; she did triage over the phone, and despite the stress, she enjoyed the work.

As people began to return to in-person work, Erica was asked by her employer to get vaccinated. She describes herself as “vaccine hesitant” and says she didn’t see the need. “I am more on the natural approach when it comes to health-wise,” she says. She left the job on good terms.

Since then she’s been able to work remotely, but her pay has decreased. Her mental health has suffered as a result:

“It’s hard for me internally…comparing myself to my sisters or friends and family – oh, they’re making this much and I’m not able to do that,” she says.

And she’s close, very close, to finishing that associate’s degree. Despite moving to central Oregon, she’s continued to take remote classes at PCC, a place where she’s felt supported for the last seven years. What she’ll do with that degree remains to be seen; Erica says just “getting it under her belt” feels like a big step right now.

“Where I am is just kind of taking it year by year and seeing where life takes me,” she says.