澳门金沙注册 Stories

Training for a Brighter Future

——拉里·霍尔

卡尔中华民国’s future was uncertain even before graduating from St. 云高中.

He thought he couldn’t enroll in college because he had seen the financial strain that his family experienced when his older sister went to Florida A&米大学. 中华民国 harbored no resentment about it, but knew his path would have to be different, especially following a conversation with his dad.

“I saw what a burden that was for my dad and he told me he didn’t know if he could pay for my college, so that made me step up and find a better plan for myself,” says 中华民国.

During his senior year of high school, 中华民国 weighed his options. He had worked at Publix and moved on to a retail position with Nike. He figured the best way to pay for college might be through work – if he could secure some form of tuition reimbursement.

Just as he was settling on that path, 中华民国 received exciting news from his high school 辅导员. 他了解到 奥西奥拉繁荣 program, which offers free tuition to 澳门金沙注册 for high school graduates from Osceola County, starting with the class of 2022.

The program was a dream come true, but now it was time to discover his passion – and 他想学什么.

中华民国 took a Computer Numerical Control class (CNC machining) in high school, but he wanted to explore other options. He joined his 辅导员 and classmates on a visit to some 澳门金沙注册 Accelerated Skills Training 类. There, he met one of the instructors of the Industrial Automation Technician -机电一体化方案.

“I spoke with Brendon Monize and he had words of inspiration to help guide me. He only had to say a couple of words and I knew I wanted to be a part of this program,” 说中华民国.

“From start to finish, it was a good experience,” he added. 让我们走到一起 in this classroom for six months, you get to learn about other people, how they work and what their mindset is, and we all have this great bond. They taught me a lot and 我教了他们很多东西.”

 

The path chosen by 中华民国 turned out to be a successful one. Before he graduated from Valencia’s 22-week program, 中华民国 was hired by Siemens Mobility as part of their partnership with Brightline Trains and 澳门金沙注册. He is now transitioning from grocery store and retail work into a sustainable skilled trade career.   

“It’s a big change for me mentally and a chance to grow. As an individual who is only 19, it matured me,” 中华民国 said. “It’s a good opportunity because Siemens is a great company, and they want each individual to grow. That’s what I love about the company.”

Before 中华民国 completed his training and accepted the offer from Siemens, he and his classmates toured the Brightline facility. 

“这太不真实了。. Just talking to those people and seeing how motivated they were was 非常令人愉快的. I spoke with the head technician, and he talked about his experience with Siemens and how everyone there has a different background and story.”

The process didn’t come without challenges though. 

“The hardest part was going to school and going to work. I would be in class from 7 a.m. 到下午2:30.m. Monday through Thursday, and then go to work. 我必须适应 to that and still obtain all the knowledge. It was hard trying to get through those six months really fast,” he said.

His hard work and mental fortitude helped him overcome the challenge of training in 困难的 Industrial Automation Technician – Mechatronics program while juggling a tight schedule. 奥西奥拉繁荣 helped him overcome the financial challenges that nearly stood in his way. 

Now, the sharp-minded 中华民国 is an employee for Siemens Mobility with an eye on the future which includes Valencia. “I know we’re lacking semiconductors with the thing between 美国.S. and China, and I want to be an engineer, so I just registered for more 类.”

With the starting line behind him, 中华民国 is on track and looking forward to his future.