The trades have personally impacted my life as my family is heavily involved in the trades, specifically my father and grandparents who worked in the HVAC and pipe fitting industries. The trades have always been good for my family and helped support generations of our lives. Additionally, the trades have been extremely helpful in helping me build my skills and grow as a person. My father was always adamant about teaching me how to be handy and prepared me for trade school before I enrolled. This directly helped my ability to problem solve, work with tools, and grow confident in my abilities. Furthermore, the trades have impacted my family's ability to provide for me throughout my childhood, my father and his father both worked their entire lives in their respective fields, the trades gave them the chance to build a life and support their families over the course of their life. I hope that I am able to provide for my family the way they were able to, and I know the trades is my path to that. Throughout my whole life, I was always a hand-on learner. Unfortunately, primary education never really focused on this aspect of learning, which is when I knew I wouldn't be attending a 4-year university. Once I decided this, my father started taking me to see what his job was like, letting me help on side projects and teaching me some tools of the trade. When I learned that I could attend a trade school that catered to hands on learning and in the field training, I knew that was my path. Without the trades, and more specifically trade schools, I would have never been able to fit into an educational format so well. I know I can excel in the workforce with the trades, my first quarter at Bates Technical College has shown me that I have the drive to succeed, and that this path was the correct one. Already I have been able to work effectively with my group on solving problems that I will encounter in my field, as well as critically think to solve problems on my own when necessary. Without the support from my family, push from my father, and preemptive knowledge of the trades and their benefits, I would never have known where I would fit. The trades have personally impacted my life in too many ways to count, from my upbringing to my livelihood, down to my overall skills and growth as a person. Their impact cannot be understated, as without them, who knows what my life would look like. Both of my grandparents knew the path they would take; my father knew the path he would take; and now I know the path I will take. The trades have impacted 18 years of my life, and now with me following the path of my father and his before him, I hope to see the same impact for the next 50 years of my life as well.