I love working on vehicles and having a career in the automotive mechanic trade will let me do what I like for a job every day. My first experience working on vehicles was with the family van doing brakes and changing the oil. I also helped my Dad with brakes and u-joints on his Ford 7.3 Powerstroke. My first vehicle was a 2001 Silverado that needed a lot of work done to get it running well so I spent a lot of time fixing it. I did the brakes, control arms and ball joints, the whole power steering system, got new wheels and tires, and replaced the grill, headlights, taillights and cargo lamp. I also installed a back rackwhich had reverse, brake, turn signals, and running lights. I also wired in cab lights, fog lights, lights on my tow mirrors, and a light strip under the tailgate. this made me interested in the electrical side of it because I like vehicles with a lot of lights and it was fun to wire them in once I got the hang of it. I had a fun time doing all of it because it is satisfying to see something work well after you spend a lot of time working on it, especially since it was the first time I had done most of it. A career in this trade will allow me to continue working on vehicles and make them run well and I will learn a lot about how a shop is run and will gain experience about vehicles that you can't learn anywhere else. A career in the automotive trade will also allow me to work on my own vehicles for a lot cheaper than if I had to send them to a different mechanic. It would also save time because I could work on them whenever I wanted. I also could work on family members or people from the church's vehicles which would help them out because I would probably only charge them for the parts I had to buy and they would know it's done by someone they knew. Eventually, I would like to start my own business and starting off a career in this trade early will help me get the knowledge and experience required to become a successful business. A career in the automotive industry will help me do what I love for a living and hopefully be a successful lifelong job.

I come from a large family in northern Illinois. I have 7 siblings not including myself so my Dad has to work a lot to pay for food and clothes. He always told me to go to college and get a good job so that I could support my family someday so that's why I'm going to trade school. When I was younger I helped him in the barn by cutting or grinding pieces of metal for him to weld for his customers. My Dad always did all the maintenance on the family vehicles and he would have me help him so I learned from watching him and pretty soon I was doing basic things like oil changes and rotating tires and changing pads and rotors for the breaks. When I turned 16 I bought my first truck for $500 and it needed a lot of work so I replaced the control arms and ball joints, the whole power steering system and the pitman and idler arm. I also bought new tires because the old ones were bald and I got new LED headlights and tail lights. That was when I decided I would make a career out of fixing cars because I enjoy fixing cars and I like modifying them.

I plan on pursuing a career in the automotive mechanic trade because I love working on vehicles and having a career in this trade will let me do what I like for a job every day. I first started pursuing my passion for working on vehicles with the family van by replacing the brakes and changing the oil. I also helped my Dad with the brakes and u-joints for the four-wheel drive on his Ford 7.3 Powerstroke which is his pride and joy. My first vehicle was a 2001 Silverado that needed a lot of work done to get it running well so I spent a lot of time and money fixing it. I worked on the brakes, the control arms and ball joints, the whole power steering system, got new wheels and tires and replaced the grill, headlights, taillights and cargo lamp. I had a really fun time doing all of it because it is satisfying to see something work well after you spend a lot of time working on it, especially since it was the first time I had done most of that type of work. I am applying for a mechanic job after school at dime and diesel in Beecher and will learn a lot there. A career in this trade will allow me to continue working on fixing vehicles and making them run well and I will learn a lot about how a shop is run and will gain experience about vehicles that you can't learn anywhere else. A career in the automotive trade will also allow me to work on my vehicles for a lot cheaper than if I would have to send them to a different mechanic and would also save time because I could work on them whenever I wanted. I also could work on family members' vehicles or vehicles from people from the church which would help them out because I would probably only charge them for the parts I had to buy. They would also be assured it was done well because they know it was done by someone they knew. Eventually, I would like to buy out a shop or start my own business and starting a career in this trade early will help me get the knowledge and experience required to grow into a successful business. A career in the trades will help me do what I love for a living and hopefully be a successful lifelong job.