Techs of Tomorrow Automotive Scholarship by ServiceUp

As a female entering the automotive industry, I get asked often what inspired me to pursue my career path of a degree in Automotive Collision Technology. Now, I could sit here and explain how my dad taught automotive mechanics when I was younger and that I've been surrounded by it my entire life; However, if you ask me to pinpoint the moment I was inspired to start pursuing a career in the field, it would be midmorning on June 5th, 2018. I was sitting on a curb being examined by a paramedic and looking at the mashed ball of metal in the center of the road that used to be my car. Being told you should be dead instead of talking with police officers is not a memory you forget, especially when the accident was no fault of your own. The way I see it, you have two options in a situation like that: fight or flight. I chose to fight. Within a couple of months of my car accident, I was diagnosed with a severe traumatic brain injury, including vision problems, memory loss, PTSD, and more. In January 2019, I had surgery on my right arm for nerve damage caused by an airbag injury. In 2020 during the COVID pandemic, I had hip surgery on my right hip and took eight long months to relearn how to walk, but I knew that wasn't going to stop me. While recovering in October 2020, I was accepted to Aims Community College into the Automotive Collision Program. January 2021 I started my first semester, and 17 days into the program I found out I required hip surgery on my left hip. My instructor informed me that even if I had to learn how to MIG weld sitting on a walker, we were going to make it happen. So what did I do? I had my second hip surgery in May of 2021, and I showed up for my next semester of class in August of 2021. It is now five years later, and although I went through all of that, there is one emotion that sticks with me and pushes me above all else. It is a feeling that doesn't come with a title, but it is the reason I chose automotive. It is the feeling that the girl sitting on the curb felt when she looked a her first car crumpled in the road. It is a little bit of panic, sadness, confusion, exhaustion and wanting to give up; but it is mostly dread. Dread that someone else will have to look at a car the way I looked at mine. Dread that someone else will have to live with the reminder that something so awful happened to them every time they look at their vehicle. That very moment was when I decided I didn't want anyone else to go through the same experience I did, and it sparked my passion for automotive repair. I know I am only one person, and I know that I can't possibly fix every vehicle in the world, but I also know that all it takes to make a difference is one person. For the past year, I have been working in a collision shop and have been painting semi-trucks. I am 5"3 and 100 pounds, I paint wrecked semi-trucks for a living, and I know I make a difference. With that being said, my role has already contributed to innovation in the field, and I absolutely know I will see it contribute more in the future. Quite frankly, being a female in the automotive industry is a progression in the field itself! I am thrilled to say that my current boss has been very proactive at adapting to having someone my size work on vehicles that are so large! For example, he recently made the drive out of state to pick up a few man-lifts, like someone would use to work on a roof or power lines. I am now efficient at operating those man lifts to paint roofs or complete bodywork up high, and to work in otherwise very inconvenient places! I envision my role as a female to continue to contribute to progression in the automotive field in two specific ways. I want to inspire other women to not be intimidated or hesitant to join the industry, and I want to continue to inspire those around me to think outside the box-- like I have with my boss-- to get work done. Women bring a different point of view to the industry, and I've noticed that even with something as simple as having a smaller employee, certain jobs can be completed more quickly, and time is money! Inspiration and innovation, here we come!

I’ve been considering many things to do in my future. One of my most passionate hobbies I love to do is working on machines, cars, trucks, and equipment. Based on that, I knew I wanted to pursue a career doing the things I love. I grew up working on a farm and multiple maple sugar bushes. Being around equipment my whole life both big and small I've had plenty of exposure to wrenching on many different rigs. In high school, I began a Career Center class in forestry where we run chainsaws, trucks, tractors, and implements that go on them. On my grandfather's farm, equipment is constantly being run all day, every day, and there is always something to maintain or fix. My motivation to continue college for Automotive Technologies comes from many aspects of my life. Growing up in dairy and maple agriculture on Vermont farms, I have been working on equipment for as far back as I can remember. In these times there is a need everywhere for workers. I especially see it in auto mechanics and diesel mechanics. Where I live in Northern Vermont almost every shop is looking for mechanics. When my mother’s brand new truck broke down they gave us a four-week wait time because the one certified mechanic was so full of jobs to do he was overbooked. This added to my motivation because I feel like I can do good and help others while doing what I love while staying right here in Vermont. My college’s Automotive Technologies program has been a great experience so far. I feel my education and professionalism growing as I strive to become a technician with a degree. It's not too far from home and guarantees me a future in my career path. All this led me to continue to choose our own Vermont Technical College to pursue my dream of becoming a mechanic. I am the firstborn to a hard-working family. My mother is a first-generation graduate student raised on a rural dairy farm. My dad not only works as a computer tech and repair but has created an environment where we have been able to make our homestead a profitable business by starting and expanding a maple business. We work hard as a family on our property to make a viable sugaring business. I know what it takes to work hard for what we have. When I am not needed on our homestead, I have three part-time jobs to make money for things we need. I was able to buy my truck last year. I love working in the woods cutting out dead trees and managing the forest to promote healthy growth not only for a healthy sugarbush, but it’s best for the environment. We live within our means, yet with Mom working at a non-profit private school and daycare and Dad managing two businesses, we need a little assistance. Therefore, with the tuition this year, I am facing more challenges in financial need. I do not want finances to stand in the way of my dream. Awarding this scholarship would further motivate me to pursue academic excellence in my field. I have a brother one year behind me in college as well. I promise to work hard in my studies and contribute back to the community with my service. I can back these promises with my first semester overall GPA of 3.95. I will represent your organization well during my years in college and beyond. In high school, I grew as a leader exponentially since I started. Through Future Farmers of America, we learned about premiere leadership and how to be a servant leader while teaching about agriculture. I held an officer position for three years. We learned the importance of asking where we were needed, how we can help others, and how a true leader is a role model and steward for their peers. Keeping my grades up and being in the National Honors Society has also had an impact on my leadership skills being a role model for students all around me. These school activities have made me a more well-rounded figure and have offered me great life experiences. Outside of school, I have worked a few different jobs and have held them for many years now. Then, at my job away from home that I have held for the past four years, I have evolved to be the boss's right-hand man and am trusted to do just about anything he does, such as running any piece of equipment he owns, to being trusted to make shop and store runs to get parts or to make knowledgeable decisions in the trade of sugaring. With all these, I have become a leader out of school as well.

I have always had a love for cars. From a very young age, I would "help" my dad when he would work on our cars at home (more like getting told to hold the flashlight). As my dad would work I would watch him and try to figure out what was broken and how he fixed it. Doing this for years helped me be able to learn more and more until I began teaching myself how to work on small things on my own. Slowly as I grew up those small things got bigger and bigger and so did my passion for cars. When I finally turned 16 and got my car I would spend hours working on it and not once did my love for cars stop. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to turn my love for cars into my career. I thought I would just go into the workforce and find something that paid the bills like my parents, but one day while I was sitting at lunch a recruiter for Universal Technical Institute walked up to me and handed me a packet. I didn’t think much of it until I started to read more and more. I found out I could make my dreams into a reality. so I took that home and showed my parents, my mom was interested but skeptical but my dad was so excited. We booked a tour of the campus and that was when I truly fell in love with UTI, I got to see all the opportunities I have and all the places I can go in life. I want to change the way people look at the automotive field, I hope to show others that being a mechanic isn't just turning a wrench. I want to show young girls that cars are not just for boys there for everyone. I want to be a trailblazer for my family and show them you do not need a master's degree and lots of money to have a good life. Most importantly I want to make everyone who has ever believed in me proud. I am inspired to make the automotive field more welcoming to everyone and change how people view blue-collar workers and how they get to where they are. I want people to see that a blue-collar work is a profession not just a job.