MOSES LAKE - Cortnie Day and Codie Musick both believed their lives were on the wrong track. That started both of them on a journey that led to Moses Lake and, among other things, volunteering at the Moses Lake Lions Club food booth at the Grant County Fair.

Musick, 17, of Nampa, Idaho, and Day, 18, of Bend, Ore., are among the approximately 300 youths in the Job Corps program in Moses Lake. Both have been in the program about five months.

Day said her move was a good thing, because things weren't working in Bend. "I was on the wrong path," she said. Her mom suggested she try the Job Corps, just to see if she couldn't change direction.

Things were bad, and then they got worse. "I got kicked out of my house, and three weeks later I get a call from Job Corps," Cortnie said.

"I was on the wrong path," Musick said. Job Corps seemed like a way to start over, she said. "I needed something to get out of the hole I was in."

Job Corps participants are allowed to enroll at the location of their choice. Cortnie didn't know much about Moses Lake, but it didn't matter. "I needed whichever one was the furthest away from where I came from," she said.

Codie said what really mattered was getting away from where she was. "I just thought it was going to change my life," she said.

And it has. The program is located in Moses Lake, but "Job Corps is our own community," Day said. Most of the participants know each other by name. Musick is enrolled in culinary arts classes and is working on a GED. Day started in the culinary program but has decided to transfer to welding classes, she said.

"I met some really nice people. I met my boyfriend there," Cortnie said.

"So did I," Cori said.

Both said they have benefited from the program, but participants have to be willing to take advantage of the opportunity. "If you don't let the program help you, it won't," Day said.

Culinary instructors told the students the Moses Lake Lions needed some help at the food booth during the fair, and Day and Musick were among the students who volunteered to help out. Each student works a four-hour shift.

On Thursday afternoon Day and Musick were among the volunteers making ice cream cones and root beer floats, brushing butter on Lion ears and sprinkling them with cinnamon. Day said she tried the Lion ears but has an alternative favorite. "Deep fried Twinkies are the best," she said. "I can feel my arteries plug already."

Musick said she plans to return back to the Boise area after she graduates and use her training to work her way through Boise State University. Her ultimate goal is to study marine biology, she said.

For most students Job Corps is "a stepping stone to what they eventually would like to do," Cortnie said. She likes the idea of being a welder for a while, but her goal is to save enough money to open her own tattoo shop, she said.