One career isn’t enough for April Trevena, who retired in January 2018 after working for the U.S. postal service for 38 years. Some of those years she worked in Santa Clara and the last five as postmaster in Alviso.
“I’m too young to quit. I have a long life in front of me,” said Trevena on campus at Mission College, Santa Clara, one day. “I can’t sit still. My husband isn’t retired yet. While he’s working, I have to keep my hands busy.”
Setting her sights on a new career, Trevena enrolled in Mission College’s Hospitality Management Program.
“My husband and I like to travel and eat out, so hospitality management was kind of a no brainer for me,” said Trevena, who hopes to work in hospitality at a local hotel.
“I like helping people,” said Trevena. “When we travel, I like to be pampered, so eventually, I want to pamper others — perhaps as a hotel concierge, to do what I can to make guests happy.”
“I look at it as exciting and as interesting to go from one career into another. My next is a totally different field,” said Trevena.
For Trevena’s first career, she followed in the footsteps of her mom, who also worked at the post office in Alviso, which Trevena the calls “the step sister of San Jose.”
Now, the Alviso resident is following in the footsteps of her four sons and stepson. All are in the culinary industry.
“It’s all about hitting your goals no matter what your age is,” said 58-year-old Trevena, who graduated in May with an AS in Hospitality Management from Mission College.
She enrolled again at Mission College for the fall semester to take a few elective classes. She plans to enjoy retirement for the rest of the year and begin looking for employment after the year-end holidays.
“Mission is topnotch if you’re interested in the food and beverage industry,” said Trevena.