Dave Russell Memorial Scholarship for Skilled Trades

I am so excited to be pursuing a career in welding after high school. School has always been very difficult for me. In third grade I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia, which make reading and writing extremely challenging. But I was always good with my hands. From a young age I liked to see how things work. I could take things apart and put them back together. I could assemble toys without help or a manual. My mother always told me that I would be successful if I just worked hard so I have really pushed myself to do that. When I reached high school she encouraged me to take my first metalworking class and I was hooked. My teacher noticed how interested I was in what we were learning and he suggested that I take the two-year welding course at our local vocational high school when I was a junior. This program has allowed me to be in the welding shop for half a day, every day. It’s been my happy place, and it’s even giving me the opportunity to earn my first welding certification. The best thing about the program was that I saw that I could be really good at something. I won two performance awards there during my first year. That used to be impossible to imagine -- me, winning a school award! In the fall I will be attending Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy, Ohio. It’s far from my home in New Jersey but I’m excited to go. My goals in life are to be happy and successful and I think my welding career will help me start to achieve those goals. I think all the time about how proud my father would be of me graduating high school and starting out on this path. He also had trouble learning in school when he was young but he was also good with his hands, and after high school he became a tradesman and he was successful. So I see a lot of him in myself. He passed away when I was 6 years old and I know that he would be bursting with pride to know I’ll become a welder. I can picture myself someday teaching welding or metalworking to high school students because I am so thankful that I had great teachers who showed me that I can be a success no matter what challenges I may face.

My name is Justin Cardona and I'm pursuing Advance Diesel Mechanical Engineering. I worked on cars/trucks for about 10 years after my father died so i found something to keep my mind distracted. while I was in school, they had me do a project as a senior to work 20 hours in any field I choose and to do a report about said field. i choose mechanic AT Jon miller car care in little egg harbor when I was there I was so excited the fact i showed up almost 30 minutes early thinking i was going to be late but i wasn't i was there before and after doors opened the 20 hours i was there i felt like a kid in toys r us it felt amazing to find and do something with my life and because i went there it gave me a drive to go to a trad school to learn more about trucks . So, i choose to go to WyoTech in Wyoming and take Advance Diesel tech and after i graduate there i would love to go to work for the garden state parkway in New jersey and work on their big rig trucks. The one way i would pay it forward to any type of kid looking into trad school I'll tell them to look for something they enjoy don't look for something that will piss you off or something you just don't like follow your dream and if you drive enough for that dream 1000% pay attention to any elderly person they KNOW their stuff and Never EVER be on your phone while instructors are speaking you will miss something crucial and it'll set you back. This is my Story I may not get the money but I'm still going to try because this is a type of job i want to be doing for the rest of my life before I retire. Thank You, Sincerely: Justin Cardona