user profile avatar

Isabella McDonald

1,125

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

1x

Winner

Bio

My name is Isabella McDonald, I am going to school for Automotive technology. I am driven, hard working, and always ready to try new things. I am constantly striving for perfection, but am adaptable and able to problem solve when things don’t go to plan.

Education

Universal Technical Institute of Pennsylvania Inc

Trade School
2025 - 2027
  • Majors:
    • Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians, Other

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Technical bootcamp

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Automotive

    • Dream career goals:

      Sports

      Sports shooting/Marksmanship

      Varsity
      2020 – 20255 years

      Awards

      • captaincy

      Ultimate Frisbee

      Varsity
      2022 – 20253 years

      Public services

      • Volunteering

        NHS — member
        2023 – 2025
      Marvin Bozarth Memorial Scholarship
      I am interested in a career as an automotive repair technician because it is a job that I love. I have always struggled in traditional learning environments, ending up bored and uninterested in the topics, but the trades are something that have always captivated my attention. I have spent hundreds of hours on general topics like English and Mathematics, but I would rather spend eight hours struggling to replace a CV axle, getting scratched and dirty, over one hour of AP Calculus. My family has owned snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles, and they all break eventually. Whether it's just a simple line coming loose or being flooded from going into a lake, any motorized vehicle needs maintenance over its lifetime. Fortunately for me, mechanics is something that runs in my family. My great uncle has owned a shop for decades, my grandfather has built cars from the ground up for Back to the 50s, and my mother is a Mechanical Engineer. Needless to say, I have been exposed to mechanics my whole life, and that has led to me doing a lot of needed maintenance right at home. Being a repair technician is not an easy job by any means. I have done jobs that take twice the advised time just because a car has one bolt in an unusual place, or because I was working with someone who wasn't familiar with the work. But I know that the payoff and rewarding feeling of completing a project is worth it every time. That perseverance is incredibly important to a technician. Not every job is going to go by the book. I'd argue that, more often than not, things go wrong because of the nature of the work. So, when one bolt breaking causes an hour-long setback it's important to stay focused, stay calm, and to keep with it. Along with being able to persevere through the difficult, I am incredibly detail oriented. There are no cutting corners when the cost could be someone's life. Many issues on a vehicle are harmless, but if a technician decides to cut corners when putting on a tire, and their client proceeds to lose a wheel going 70 mph down the freeway, then the cost could be a lot more than a new bolt. That is why I believe that my attention to detail will be incredibly important when repairing a vehicle. Finally, I do my best to be prepared for all scenarios. When I receive a vehicle to work on, I prepare all the correct tools and parts so that I can perform their work to the best of my abilities. I also do a lot of work to be mentally prepared. Not every day is going to be a good one, and not every job is going to be fun, but that doesn't mean I can choose to cut corners. A technician's job requires trust. The client needs to trust that even when the technician is having a bad day their work will not be compromised, and that every single job will be done the right way, with focus. So, in order to guarantee I have their full trust, I make sure to put all other issues aside when I begin working and do my absolute best work.
      Autel Awarding Excellence Scholarship
      Winner
      I am interested in a career as an automotive repair technician because it is a job that I love. I have always struggled in traditional learning environments, ending up bored and uninterested in the topics, but the trades are something that have always captivated my attention. I have spent hundreds of hours on general topics like English and Mathematics, but I would rather spend eight hours struggling to replace a CV axle, getting scratched and dirty, over one hour of AP Calculus. My family has owned snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles, and they all break eventually. Whether it's just a simple line coming loose or being flooded from going into a lake, any motorized vehicle needs maintenance over its lifetime. Fortunately for me, mechanics is something that runs in my family. My great uncle has owned a shop for decades, my grandfather has built cars from the ground up for Back to the 50s, and my mother is a Mechanical Engineer. Needless to say, I have been exposed to mechanics my whole life, and that has led to me doing a lot of needed maintenance right at home. Being a repair technician is not an easy job by any means. I have done jobs that take twice the advised time just because a car has one bolt in an unusual place, or because I was working with someone who wasn't familiar with the work. But I know that the payoff and rewarding feeling of completing a project is worth it every time. That perseverance is incredibly important to a technician. Not every job is going to go by the book. I'd argue that, more often than not, things go wrong because of the nature of the work. So, when one bolt breaking causes an hour-long setback it's important to stay focused, stay calm, and to keep with it. Along with a need to persevere through the difficult, a technician needs to be incredibly detail oriented. There are no cutting corners when the cost could be someone's life. Many issues on a vehicle are harmless, but if a technician decides to cut corners when putting on a tire, and their client proceeds to lose a wheel going 70 mph down the freeway, then the cost could be a lot more than a new bolt. That is why I believe that a technician needs to present in every moment when repairing a vehicle. Finally, a technician needs to be prepared. When they receive a vehicle to work on, they need to have all the correct tools and parts so that they can perform their work to the best of their abilities. They also need to be prepared mentally. Not every day is going to be a good one, and not every job is going to be fun, but that doesn't mean they can choose to cut corners. A technician's job requires trust. The client needs to trust that even when the technician is having a bad day their work will not be compromised, and that every single job will be done the right way, with focus.
      Isabella McDonald Student Profile | Bold.org