Second Career for Wounded Warrior Gets Tasteful
Born into a military family, Amanda Noda always wanted to do something challenging
and meaningful in life. When she graduated from Warren High School in 2011, she joined
the Marine Corps and worked at a confinement facility in North Carolina for four years
until a severe concussion she sustained during training forced her to medically retire
from the service in 2015. Experiencing seizures, memory loss, and migraines, she was
diagnosed with epilepsy at that time.
After her retirement from the Marine Corps, Amanda nursed her injured self to work at a restaurant in North Carolina for two years. Her physical problems didn’t go away, but she found the second career she fell in love with – culinary arts.
Amanda returned to California and had her first son in 2017. At the same time, she researched culinary schools in the area and found out Cerritos College was one of the best programs. In 2018, Amanda took one introductory culinary arts class at the College to test the waters, and she was pleasantly surprised that the class was more advanced than she had expected. Since then, she has completed 137 credits at Cerritos College. By the time she transfers to Cal Poly Pomona this fall, Amanda has only a couple of classes left toward her bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, saving college tuition costs significantly.
“Here, you can learn how to actually apply what you’re learning in a real environment,” says Amanda about the Cerritos College Culinary Arts program. “including a restaurant, café, catering – it has everything, and the instructors are knowledgeable, and well-connected in the industry.”
Amanda also thanks the Cerritos College Veterans Resource Center, which supported her every step of the way from enrollment assistance, counseling, and the transfer process.
In 2021, Amanda had her second son on the first day of the spring semester. “I was able to attend the class in the hospital bed because the classes were online due to the pandemic,” she said. As for her injury, she was re-diagnosed with a severe migraine disorder caused by traumatic brain injury in the summer of 2022 and has a better picture of her treatment plan.
After she completes her bachelor’s degree, she plans to work in the financial department at a hospitality business to understand finances and how to control cash flow for her dream of opening a bakery business.
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