My name is Gavin Callender, and I am almost twenty years old. I grew up in a small farming and oilfield town in Montana, where I learned the importance of hard work, responsibility, and helping others. My twin brother and I are the first people in our family to attend college, so this experience has been both exciting and challenging. Since no one in our household has gone through college before, we have had to learn many things on our own, from managing our schedules to figuring out how to pay for school. Living on our own while attending college has been a major adjustment. We are responsible for paying rent, buying groceries, and covering other daily expenses while also keeping up with our coursework. To help support myself, I work a part-time job. Although I am grateful to have employment, the income I earn is only enough to cover my rent and a few basic necessities. It does not leave much room to pay for tuition, books, or other college-related expenses. Balancing work and school has been difficult, and my schedule is almost always full. Between attending classes, completing assignments, and working, I have very little free time. The constant pressure of trying to stay on top of everything while worrying about finances can be overwhelming. Despite these challenges, I remain committed to earning my degree. I am currently studying to become an Electrical Lineworker, a career that requires dedication, technical knowledge, and a strong work ethic. I chose this field because it offers the opportunity to build a stable future while performing meaningful work that directly benefits communities. Electrical lineworkers help keep homes, businesses, and essential services powered, making their work an important part of everyday life. One of my biggest goals is to return to my hometown after graduation. The community where I grew up has given me countless opportunities and taught me values that I will carry with me throughout my life. I want to use the education and skills I gain in college to give back to the people who supported me while I was growing up. By working as a lineworker in my hometown, I hope to contribute to the local community and help maintain the infrastructure that so many families and businesses depend on. Although paying for college has been one of the biggest obstacles I have faced, I know that earning my degree will create opportunities that make the sacrifices worthwhile. My experiences have taught me resilience, perseverance, and the value of hard work. As a first-generation college student, I am proud to be creating a path not only for myself but also for my family. I am determined to complete my education, build a successful career, and return home to make a positive difference in the community that helped shape who I am.

My choice of pursuing a trade was not my first decision, it was not even a choice I was thinking of when I started deciding what I wanted to do for a further education. After about a year I sat down with my parents and told them that I didn't know what I wanted to do for career. My dad had asked me the question of what I don't want to do for a future. I told him that I want to be outside, and not cooped up in an office all day. That is when the idea of going into a trade was brought up. I have been fixing little engines such as dirt bikes and four-wheelers for years so I knew I had to do something with my hands and being a sports player I enjoy working with a team and working along side of people. With this in mind I started searching. That's when someone showed me videos of the Bismarck State College Lineman Program. They were putting on an event to demonstrate the skills that the students had learned through the program. I did some research and knew instantly; that's what I want to do. It's the perfect career for me, everything I want in Job and it's only a four and half hour drive from home to get to the college. I can happily say that I have been accepted to Bismarck State College for this program and am fully commited to completeing it. The skills I learn in this trade will make an impact on my community because I live in a very rural community. Being rural and up north there are constant power outages do to the weather and other various reasons. This trade puts me into a career path that will directly help with this problem and help keep power up and going for all for small buisnesses. One of the challenges I have to overcome is finacial issues. My family lives just bellow comfortable, we don't quite live paycheck to paycheck but close. As a highschool student I work 30 plus hours a week to support myself as much as I can to take stress off my parents. Sending me through this program is defiently going to put a toll on us, what makes it worse is I have a twin brother. Sending us both through further educations is going to put a very large toll on my family. I plan on overcoming this by getting a part time job in Bismarck, and filling out as many scholarships as possible.

I choose to go into the trade of electrical lineworker. There are a couple reasons why I would like to go into a trade. My reasons are job experiences, personal hobbies, and pay. Throughout high school, I have been grateful to work different jobs that helped me figure out what I want to do. Being a lifeguard, I learned that being outside for work is something I really like. At the gas station, being a cook showed me that working with the public is not my strong suit. When I was a county weed sprayer, I was outside and not dealing with people directly. My personal hobbies are sports and anything that gets my hands dirty. I played every team sport in high school and loved working with a team to get the job done. For years, I've been riding dirt bikes and breaking them, so I grew up messing with engines and getting my hands dirty. Working with a team and getting dirty are things I knew had to be part of my future job. Pay was another big thing I thought about. From working different jobs, I learned that the dirty and hard jobs pay more. Getting dirty and working hard are not things I'm scared of, especially for a good paycheck. I have dreams of starting a family someday and want to have enough money to support them. When I thought about what I wanted to do for a living, I knew my education had to fit certain things. Trades were the only type of education that matched what I wanted. I chose to be a lineman because it checks all my boxes - it's outside, doesn't make me work directly with the public, lets me get my hands dirty, work with a team, and pays well. Supporting a family was a big deal for me. I didn't want some boring desk job where I'd be stuck inside all day. I wanted something challenging that would keep me moving and make me feel like I'm actually doing something important. My whole thought process came down to finding a job that matches who I am. I'm not afraid of hard work, I like being outside, and I want to do something that matters. Electrical linework seemed like the perfect way to do all of that and make good money at the same time. I'm excited about this path. It feels like everything I've done has been preparing me for this career.

My name is Gavin Callender and I am a highschool senior. I am a twin and am applying to as many scholarships as possible, to take the finacial stress of sending two kids through college at the same time off of my parents. I have been accepted to Bismarck State College for an associates degree in their Electrical Lineman program. I'm leading a bridge restoration project as a senior project in our small town, and it's been quite the undertaking. Last summer, we had a couple of photographers from Germany who specifically came to take pictures of our bridge. The ongoing challenge has been managing public safety and preventing vandalism or tomfoolery on the bridge. The existing chain link fence has been beat up pretty significantly over the past few years. It has been a very large saftey issue for the town for awhile now. Our team of three is currently working on securing funding to replace the fence with a newer chain link hat will enhance safety and maintain the bridge's aesthetic appeal. We are doing this to preserve a community landmark that means a lot to our residents. We are hoping that a new fence and some matnince on the bridge will stop vandalism and climbing while keeping the bridge's character intact. The project requires careful planning, from selecting appropriate materials to ensuring we meet all necessary safety regulations. It's a complex process, but we're committed to finding a solution that protects both the bridge and our community. Our goal is to transform a potential safety hazard into a well-maintained local asset that we can all be proud of. In the end when we complete refurbishing the fence, it will at least look better. I know there is a very large chance that people will just destroy the new fence just as the old one was. But doing what we can to keep it maintained and opened to the public is the least I can do.