“I have been involved in the Human Resources field throughout my career,” said Izabela. She had an extensive background as a HR manager in Poland before coming to the US, and she knew she would pursue her career as a HR specialist in the US as well, despite the language barrier.
Izabela arrived in the US in 2016 due to her husband’s work. She researched language schools even before she came to Michigan and contacted the Academic Director of MLC. Izabela was clear about what she needed to do for her first year in the US in order to accomplish her goal. “I needed to push my English to the professional level. I used mainly Polish and German when I worked in Poland, and using English was just for vacations. As an HR professional, it is important to be able to deal with difficult conversations in English,” she said.
After one year of her study at MLC, she began to apply for HR positions and got a job offer from a global automotive company. In January of this year, Izabela was promoted to a new position as the Senior Global HR manager in this company. “I work with the global HR teams all round the world, including countries in Europe and Asia. It’s a very challenging yet rewarding position.”
Izabela’s rapid success in her career since coming to the US is phenomenal; she has been promoted 2 times within 5 years. Izabela describes herself as “goal oriented”, and it applies to her commitment in her study at MLC. Izabela took almost all of the English classes that MLC offers in the year she arrived. “MLC instructors are all amazing. Teachers and students are very close and I liked the atmosphere. At home, I had just my husband to talk with who was out for work half of the day, so it was very nice to use English at MLC every day.”
Despite her dedication to her study, Izabela says MLC is not just about learning English. “It is not just about the school, it is about the community. I felt I was part of the extended family,” she said. “You can also learn about American English and its culture, other cultures from around the world, and how to communicate with people in a multicultural setting. Since I knew I would need to prepare to work with people from other cultures and countries, it was great to learn these things at school activities outside the classes.”
Izabela graduated from MLC 6 years ago, but she still remembers her days at MLC, the staff and the instructors very well. “I still recommend MLC to people around me from other countries. The time I spent at MLC was absolutely a pleasant journey for me.”
