Name: Alex Alhaj

Job: Utility Worker II at Decatur Campus. I was riffed in 2013 and then rehired in August 2013. I started at Clarkston as a custodian.

Favorite thing about working at GPC: The environment, people, my co-workers. I love GPC because it was my first job since I moved to the United States in 2006.

Education: Completed high school in Khartoum, Sudan. I studied heating and air at ITT Technical Institute in 2008 and took criminal justice at what was then DeKalb Tech in 2009. I want to get more training.

Hometown/current residence: Khartoum, Sudan; I now live in the Clarkston area. After all the unrest in Sudan, I went to Ethiopia as a refugee and stayed in a camp for two years. I applied to come here, and it took me six months to get here which was less time than many. After Homeland security said it was okay for me to come to the U.S., the International Rescue Committee sponsored me to come here. They paid my rent for five months and assigned me a volunteer who helped me find a job at GPC.

Favorite book: The Bible, and also I like fiction and reading newspapers.

Favorite movie: “Walking Death,” a horror movie with zombies in it. I don’t generally like movies, but I just liked that one.

Professional goals: I’m expecting to move forward in my current job title. If I could get more training to move forward, I would be very excited.

Most influential person in my life: My wife because she is always there for me when I’m in a bad situation or good. She’s my best friend.

Leisure activities: I like to travel. I have been to 12 states and Washington, D.C., since coming to the United States. I speak Arabic and English, but I have not been to many other countries.

Something most people don’t know about me: I’m friendly to everybody, and like many people at GPC from another country, I have a story.

(compiled by Betsy Hardy)