Career Blog

A Northbridge Career Growth Story

Meet Meiying (Mei) Lei – Resident Care Associate

At Northbridge we are proud to foster a culture of opportunity and growth for our associates as they learn about life in the community, working with our residents and about the senior living industry. Many of our associates have been able to thrive and grow with us and we are excited to share their stories with you!

First job at Northbridge: Housekeeper
Current job:  Resident Care Associate
Community: Stone Hill at Andover

Mei’s story of growth is personal and professional and started about 11 years ago when she first moved to the United States from China.

It’s hard to believe today watching Mei at work, interacting with the residents and chatting with fellow associates, but when she first came to the United States, Mei didn’t speak English and didn’t know anyone besides her husband.

One word that encompasses Mei and her journey is brave. She was brave to leave her family and everything she knew to move here, then brave again when she signed up for classes at Middlesex Community College to learn English, and showed yet another act of bravery when starting her job at Stone Hill at Andover as a housekeeper.

While taking English classes, Mei realized that to really learn the language, and be comfortable speaking it, she had to put herself in situations where she would be forced to use it. Mei shares, “when I first moved here, I stayed home a lot and I realized that to learn English, I need to go out and I need to work. I had to encourage myself first then I had to face the challenge, then I found a job.”

She had taken 2 semesters of English classes when she came in to apply for a job at Stone Hill. “I called Stone Hill to apply and had trouble speaking over the phone, so I came in person to talk face to face. I was so nervous but I came and talked to the Maintenance Manager and then later I talked to Karla (Stone Hill Executive Director). Karla encouraged me a lot, a lot, so I feel comfortable talking to her. I felt comfortable and that she was so nice, and she made me feel like I was ready to work at Stone Hill and try to speak English with more people. Sometimes I spoke the wrong words, but I had to keep encouraging myself.”

If there’s one thing Mei knows how to do very well, it’s work really hard. While working as a housekeeper she continued going to class to learn English. Today, she continues to take English classes and wants to continue with her American education.

Once she was more comfortable speaking English, Mei started to pick up extra shifts in the Dining Room and also helped run small groups with Programing. Once she felt that her English had improved, she started taking CNA classes. She shares, “ I was never sure what I wanted to do but being here and watching the workers, it started giving me ideas of what I wanted to do so I decided to become a CNA.”

After lots of studying, and a few bumps along the way, Mei passed her CNA exam and since March has worked at Stone Hill as an Resident Care Associate. “I passed my skills test the first time but I didn’t pass the written exam the first time, it was so hard for me, the reading, the thinking, the timing was off and I couldn’t finish the questions so later I tried again and I finally passed.”

There was plenty of excitement with this latest achievement but also a little bit of sadness because one of Mei’s biggest supporters at Stone Hill, besides Karla, was Stone Hill Maintenance Director, Frank. Mei shares, “Frank, Frank is the best. When I started taking CNA classes, I was like oh my god, if I take this class it means I will leave Frank, I will leave my position and I feel like, he’s a great person, he’s wonderful, he cares about everything. He helped me with lots of things, even personal questions, he supports and helps everyone in here.”

With the successful completion of her CNA license, and a hesitancy to leave Frank and his department, Mei met with both Karla and Frank to find the perfect fit for her at Stone Hill.

“We had lots of meetings about me and they really, really support me a lot. I love it, I can’t leave. Here, I receive lots of love. Lots of love from my residents, lots of love from my supervisors and coworkers. This is my second family. Sometimes, I’m really upset and homesick and when I come here in the morning, when I see the residents here, I feel better.”

At the time of this interview Mei had finished her 4th shift working on her own as an RCA  and shared, “the good thing is I already know most residents here and they knew me so it’s a little bit easier in that sense. The residents feel comfortable with me already and I love them and they love me too”.

After reading about Mei, we hope that you feel just a little bit of the bravery and courage that she demonstrates on a regular basis by pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. Mei is still a little shy when it comes to sharing her story but her ability to push herself, set goals and achieve them, and be such a meaningful presence in the community is something that should be admired.

Mei will tell you that cleaning is her happy place and something that brings her so much joy, but we like to think her Stone Hill family is a close second.

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