Some time when I was 9, I remember feeling like something wasn't right. I saw all of peers excited to learn play and go about their days. I just wanted to stay at my house and not do anything most days. As this remained unchecked, it continued to get worse. By the age of 13 I really knew something was wrong. I then had the ability to put it into words and told my mother. I ended up with a bunch of different therapists. Even though I wasn't comfortable talking to them I stayed, trying to get help and eventually went to a psychiatrist. They had me fill out a long questionnaire. A couple of weeks later we got the results back and I was prescribed with Bipolar 2 and depression. I unfortunately stopped going to my therapy appointments and I had a "I can do it myself" attitude. All of problems started snowballing by my senior year of high school. I ended up drinking heavily one night and I cut all of my interior tendons with a knife. I was rushed to the emergency room, and they stopped the bleeding I got surgery two days later. After surgery was done, the doctor told me I was not going to be able to use my hand again. I ended up in occupational therapy for a couple of months and I thankfully regained most of my hand function. By my sophomore year I turned to alcohol, and I continued to drink more and more. Drinking was what I was thinking about most of the time. I was drinking every weekend, and eventually I started drinking during the week. It was the only time I felt like myself. I would always drink until I eventually blacked out. Around my senior year I started to take pills every so often but thankfully didn't have a way of getting more. After cutting my hand I had a long road to recovery. I couldn't work, I couldn't exercise like I use to, and I was isolated. Even though it was hard, it helped me realize I need to take this time to work on things. I started slowly working on myself mentally. I started opening up to my mother and one of my friends and got the help I needed. I'm still working on being open to this day. It is still a struggle trying to be 100% honest about everything I have going on. After I was able to work again, I tried two different jobs. One was at a local pizza shop I have worked at since I was about 15 years old, and the other was the United States Postal Service. Both of these jobs were okay to me, but they lacked fulfillment and job diversity. In the trades you get to build something and make it work. I'm an electrician and get to work with a local contractor. The first job I had with him we were hooking up exits signs in a building. The amount of pride I felt after completing it correctly is still unmatched. With my other two jobs it was a lot of the same things over and over again. But with my field you get a new challenge every day. Even if you are doing the same job, the environment is always different. There is always something to learn.

Owning my own electrical contracting business has always been a dream of mine. I work for an electrician in my hometown. We do mainly residential work. He has agreed to hire me once I complete my degree here. I will work under him for around a year. This will give me experience, give me the ability to ask him questions, and complete jobs to his standards. After my mini apprenticeship with him, I will start taking on my own work. While I am completing jobs, I will also learn how to estimate the jobs, get the parts and equipment we need to the jobs, and maintain relationships with our customers. Once I have honed my skills, hopefully I can start to hire new employees and get a small group of workers. Once we have a team we can start taking jobs further away and have specialized teams. We could branch into new construction and even jobs in the industrial field. After I have 5-6 years of experience, I want to move. I have always dreamed of living in North Carolina. So, I would move down south and start working for another local electrician. I would start doing work on the side. Getting my name out there and building my reputation. Once that work picks up, I would go fully into my own business. I would then just repeat my plan. Work until I can find people to work under me and grow the business. I would continue to expand my range for work, expand my team. I need as much money as I can get for college. I need a vehicle to get to work for the summer. As stated earlier, I work with a local electrician, and we have many jobs lined up for when construction season comes back around. I also want to minimize my debt. This will help me keep my debt-to-income ratio low so I can take on more loans for work trucks, tools and any other work-related costs

1.I first remember being passionate about Electrical when I was a kid. My grandmother was an electrician, and I saw the life she was able to make for herself. My family never had much, and I saw this as a way out. A way for me to be able to provide for my family. 2. I work with an electrician in my area. I have already talked with him about employment after i achieve my degree with Penn Tech. I will continue to work under him. Learning to work to his standard, use our local codes, and learn how to do the paperwork associated. Once he is confident in my ability to work alone, I will go out on my own under him. Hopefully after a couple of years of working for him we can start to recruit others, and I can help in the process. After that is dependent on if I plan on moving down south or staying the area. One of my ideas is to stay and to continue to work for him. Continuing to complete jobs, hire new employees, doing paperwork and helping in expansion. Then eventually buying the company from him once he wants to retire. My other plan is to move more south after working for him for 4 - 5 years. My thought is somewhere like North Carolina. There I would work for another company to get familiar with the area, local codes and the residents. From there I would start my own side business, building clients and establishing relationships. I would do this until I can generate enough revenue to go on my own. From there I would expand as much as possible. I would hire new workers, take jobs further out, and hopefully even take on estimating and having some people for HVAC/R and plumbing. 3. Around the age of 17 or 18, I had a severe alcohol problem. It was all I could think about. It was causing both my academics in high school and trade school I was enrolled in to suffer. It was also causing my personal relationships to suffer. One night while drinking at a party I took a knife that was in the hunting cabin. I can't remember why, but I took the knife, and I slammed it into the table with all my power. My hand ended up slipping down the blade and I severed every interior tendon on my right hand. After a lot of confusion and wondering what to do, some of my friends ended up taking me to my family and they took me to the emergency room. I eventually got surgery, and the doctor told me there was almost no chance of me getting to use my hand again. I was going to take that as an absolute. I had to go to occupational therapy for 4 months to regain my strength. We worked very hard in there. and my therapist gave me exercises to do at home to help strengthen my hand. Through all of this I continued to pray and talk to God. Asking for one more chance to get my life turned around. I thankfully have most of my hand function back.

When I was younger, I was quite lost. I did not have much direction as a kid due to my parent's personal issues. This caused me to be lost, and going to the wrong things looking for a purpose and for validation. I was troubled from all of this and had different mental problems. In high school I decided to go to Northern Tier Career Center. At Northern Teir Career Center I enrolled in Heating Ventilation Air conditioning and refrigeration. In the beginning I was nervous and lacked any hands-on knowledge. A majority of the other students already had experience with HVAC, and it worried me. I was concerned that I would be left behind and leave the school with nothing to show for it. This was not the case, Mr. Davidson (The teacher for the HVAC department) was a well of knowledge. Any question I had, he always had the answer to it. He taught out of one book, and always had homework related to the chapters we were reading. He offered a lot of great videos on YouTube for me when I was stuck on something. Not only was he great for furthering my academics, but He was also a great mentor. My senior year at the institution I was struggling with in my personal life. He saw this and contacted my parents and my high school. I ended up getting admitted to the meadows in State College Pennsylvania and it led to me getting the help I needed at the time. On top of Mr. Davidsons help, I had great peers. Specifically, my friend Bryce. He had a solid foundation with the electrical side of the work we were doing. Bryce also possessed the necessary hands-on experience for us to succeed. Bryce and I would also go back and forth with things we had going on in our lives. He was a solid foundation in my life for my junior and senior year. He quickly caught onto the material that Davidson was teaching. Anything I was struggling on; he would help me to understand. After high school I didn’t stick with HVAC. I thought it was a bad idea, but eventually I enrolled into Pennsylvania College of Technology. Here I am enrolled in electrical construction, and will hopefully dual decreeing in Building automation. I have had some great mentors here as well. Currently I am enrolled in a commercial lab with Mr. morse. He has helped me to understand what the teacher I had last year neglected to teach and has propelled me to understanding the material we have. Through the trades I have found a way of living. They have helped me get a direction in life and to set goals for myself that I can achieve. I have been given many great mentors and peers along the way. They have helped me to see that life is a very precious gift to not throw away. The trades have helped me find my direction and be a great man. In a way the trades saved my life

Since I was young, I always wanted to be an electrician. Both of my grandparents were electricians in a factory. They both didn't come from anything. Now they are both happily retired, they own a very beautiful home and have around 20 acres of woods for themselves. Seeing the life, they built for themselves planted a seed in my head. My parents didn't have much when I was growing up either. There were many times we wouldn't have electricity or heat for a month. There were times we would have to boil water to heat the house or times when my parents would skip meals so my brother and I could eat. I knew I didn't want to live my life like this. So, I took to step after being out of school for 2 years to go to college for electrical construction. Coming from very little, I know it's not fun growing up in poverty. I want to open scholarships for college students who have troubles paying for their tuition. I want these students to be able to focus on their education, so they can master their field. I really enjoy working out. It helped me make myself who I am. Its taught me life lessons that are priceless. I'm lucky enough to have a decently affordable gym, but I know a handful of peers who have had to stop lifting due to finances. I want to open a gym when I'm older to help alleviate this for the future generation. I want to help highschoolers and college athletes have an affordable and advanced facility. I want to have classes for discounted prices on certain nights to help those who might not know what to do, how to train, or what they want to do with fitness. I have a lot of ambition. I want to provide for a family and to have children. I want to help them to be the best hat they can. I want to be successful for them and to have my own companies. I want to be able to provide a great service at a good price. I want to be able to achieve what I know I am capable of to provide for everyone.

Most of my life I was lost and had no direction. My parents tried their best to raise me correctly but had me at a young age and were also growing up themselves. I had a lot to deal with growing up both mentally and in my environment. I had depression from a young age and undiagnosed bipolar 2. This mixed with a lack of guidance caused me walk around lost. Luckily for me in my 10th grade year I got to sign up for a course at Northern Tier Career Center. I ended up choosing Heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration. I was nervous at first. I had no experience with anything hands on. My teacher, Mr. Davidson, luckily was a great teacher and did teach me a lot with my two years there. I learned more than just the trade, I also got to learn practices is still use in my life to this day. In a way he was the guidance I needed at this age. My first semester I tried my hardest to learn and did quite well, my senior year wasn't anywhere as good. I had a lot going on in my personal life with my family and personal relationships that worsened my depression. I still graduated despite all this and got my 900-hour certificate. I tried a construction job after high school and hated it. It killed my passion for trades. I decided I would just work until I figured out what I wanted to do. I didnt like the environments these jobs had. At my last full time job, I decided to give the trades another try. I applied for electrical construction at Pennsylvania college of technology and got accepted. I got through my first year and am very happy I took the leap to try school again. Getting to work with my hands again and learn all the details about electricity revied my love for the trades. Again the great teachers I have helped me through life. Through the rocky road that is my own mental health, I have a deep compassion for men who suffer from mental illness. Many men believe to be a man you need to not talk about your problems. That you must hide how you are feeling to be accepted. This leads men to taking their own lives, seeing no other way out of this person hell they have created. I believe if we break down this barrier, we could lower this percentage and make a better society for everyone. Having more fathers, sons and significant others around to enjoy the life we were given.

1. I am going to Pennsylvania College of Technology and am studying Electrical Construction. In high school, I went to a trade school and wanted to do electrical, but the trade school I went to had gotten rid of the program. I went for HVAC instead and got very basic electrical work. I really enjoyed getting to some of the wiring for heating and cooling. Going to college for electrical construction allows me to finally do what I planned for back in high school. 2. I planned on doing electrical construction because the work is fulfilling. Getting to either wire something from start to finish or getting to solve a puzzle on a service call is a great feeling. On top of that I just enjoy working with my hands. In between high school and getting into college I had a couple of different jobs. I didn't really enjoy them, and I just couldn't connect with the people. So, enrolling into the college gave me the hope that I could be ab le to do all of these things again. 3. I will be successful in my trade because Of my background knowledge of HVAC, my mindset and my work ethic. My background in the trades helps me have a better understanding for my electrical classes, which helps me to learn. This will help to catapult me to learning the harder concepts. I have a "No Quit" mentality. I know some days on the job can be very hard, but one thing that differs me and others. I won't quit until the job is done. My work ethic has been engraved in me from a young age, and further advanced through my job during high school and my time at the trade school in high school. 4. A successful life to me is having a family, owning my own business, having a good community and owning rental properties. I want to get married and have two kids one boy and one girl. I want really strong ties to the community I'm in. I want tom to move down south and establish my business. I want those who will pick me and my team to know that. they are getting the best work that they can round. I also just want to have a lot of people around me that I know and trust. I want to run a HVAC, electrical and plumbing business. I plan on having three different sections to the company. I'm most likely going to start with the electrical side to get the company started. Then with my experience in high school start getting guys for HVAC. Lastly, I am considering taking a plumbing course through Pennsylvania College of Tech, so I could also make that a branch.

I'm Kohl A. Bastion, I'm from a very small town in Canton Pennslyvania. In high school, I went to a Northern Teir Career Center for HVAC/R. I fell in love with it. Up to this point I didn't know what I wanted to do for a career. The hands-on aspect really clicked with me. Unfortunately, COVID-19 happened and caused my senior year to get a little messed up, I felt ill-prepared to go into the field. It prevented me from learning anything about plumbing and much of refrigeration After graduating from both high school and NTCC I went and got a job in construction with my family. I had a lot of other personal things going on in my life at this point and ended up cutting my hand and severing every tendon. I was told that I wasn't going to be able to use my hand again, but I was determined to not let that happen. I worked as hard as I could with my physical therapist. I thankfully beat the odds and my hand still works. It's still improving year by year. I went to a couple of different jobs after my hand worked again thinking the trades would be too much for my hand. I did not enjoy my time working those jobs and missed the fulfillment that making or fixing something in the field gave me. Coming to college at 20 was a big leap for me to take. But I Know that coming here will allow me to get that fulfillment from finishing projects and getting some great characters to work with.

I have always been passionate about the trades. In highschool, I could never really focus on the work at hand. This lead me to go to a trade school while I was in high school. Unfortunately, they didn't have an electrical course, however, they had an HVAC/R course. I fell in love with it. Through Northern their career center, I got a lot of basic knowledge of wiring, and I had the option to get more work with electrical through the electrical. I decided to stick with HVAC and wanted to start my own business with it. After high school I was trying to figure out what to do, I went to a couple of jobs until I decided to come to Pennsylvania College of Technology. Since Northern Teir I knew I didn't want a normal job. The couple of jobs I worked just were not for me. I knew I needed to get back into the trades. Working with my hands just makes more sense to me. I grasp concepts easier than just sitting down and listening to a lecture. When I have myself where I want to be financially in a couple of years, I want to help college students and high school to afford college. I understand how hard it is to be able to make the payments for college. I would also like to find a way to get kids in college quality food. I know how much meal plans are(at least or PCT) and how hard it can be having time when you want to use your limited meals. I want to find a way to help these kids. Maybe to get them a food truck or buy food in bulk and then cook it for them. I know some students have access to stoves and ovens. So then I could give them pre-set items to cook and teach them how to cook. Way down the road when I have my own contracting company, I plan on owning affordable housing. I want to get a duplex and make it affordable, making just enough profit to keep it afloat. I also want to find a way to help those locally who are being drug down with medical bills. I understand that doctors need to be paid for all the work they do. However, I don't believe we should have people's lives being destroyed by medical bills.

Since a young age, I've dealt with issues, never understanding what was wrong. Growing up I felt a deep sadness and that something was not right inside. A lot happened while I was growing up to the point of something constantly wrong. A lot happened within my family leading to this. By the age of thirteen, I had my first anxiety attack induced by a family member, I felt paralyzed and I couldn't breathe. It led to me going to therapy to try to deal with all of this. I then got my anxiety and depression diagnosis. My anxiety got crippling eventually. it slowly kept eating away at me until I was ready to no longer go outside. I realized then have control of my life and needed to start to take control. it took me a while but I was eventually able to go outside again. It was still really hard for me to socialize (and it still is today), and this made it hard to make a lot of friends. Depression has been a big one. It has crippled me mentally and made my mind feel like a prison of self-hate and negativity. I let my depression get bad without knowing what to do. It snowballed and it got worse year by year. from the age of probably 15-19 it was horrible to live. It felt like I couldn't do anything right for myself. it made it very hard to focus in school, and. I tried therapy and got medicated. I unforantuely went into therapy with a closed mind saying it wouldn't work. I still tried to go on the medication they wanted me on. I can't remember the couple of meds I've been on, however, the last one I was on was Prozac and Zoflot. These made the depression unbearable and caused me to go manic. this led me to wonder if I was bipolar. my father is bipolar so I asked my mom to help me to get an evaluation. So at the age of 17, I took my 500-question evaluation and talked to my physiatrist. After they assessed my questions I was given my bipolar 2 diagnosis. I didn't get medicated for it. I didn't want a repeat of what happened with the last meds I got on, to repeat. I had a lot going on with substance abuse issues and the girlfriend I had at the time gave me a lot of issues. All of this with school going on, I had multiple manic episodes. These always lasted for a minimum of a week and made school feel impossible when It was a manic low. While the manic high was fun at the moment it sucked dealing with what id do during it after I was out of the episode.