Career Report
Ever since I was about twelve-years-old I have been interested in cars and racing. I plan on going into the automotive field. I have been around people that worked on cars and it interested me in how everything works. I also chose this field because I will have the ability to work on my own vehicles if they break down. I researched what education is needed in the automotive field. Some of the education is two years at a technical or a community college. One can either go for becoming ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified or graduate with a associates degree. The associates degree is more for people looking into the salesman/business side in the automobile industry. I currently am attending Cowley College through my junior and senior year for automotive and I'm going to be ASE certified. The cost for me is around $2000 for the two years since I'm still in high school and the state of Kansas pays for your tuition and fees. If I attended Cowley College for automotive technology when I got out of high school It would cost me between $6,000-$8,000. As you can see there is a big cost difference between taking the classes in high school and waiting until after high school. Starting pay as a automotive mechanic starting, one makes, roughly between $35,000-$45,000 a year. The money one makes depends on where one lives and on what kind of shop one works at a dealership or family run shop etc. If one did a comparison between someone that works at a dealership in Wichita and Kansas City, obviously working in Kansas City the pay is a lot better, but the living expenses in Kansas City are much more higher because it a more booming economic city than Wichita.
Ever since I was about twelve-years-old I have been interested in cars and racing. I plan on going into the automotive field. I have been around people that worked on cars and it interested me in how everything works. I also chose this field because I will have the ability to work on my own vehicles if they break down. I researched what education is needed in the automotive field. Some of the education is two years at a technical or a community college. One can either go for becoming ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified or graduate with a associates degree. The associates degree is more for people looking into the salesman/business side in the automobile industry. I currently am attending Cowley College through my junior and senior year for automotive and I'm going to be ASE certified. The cost for me is around $2000 for the two years since I'm still in high school and the state of Kansas pays for your tuition and fees. If I attended Cowley College for automotive technology when I got out of high school It would cost me between $6,000-$8,000. As you can see there is a big cost difference between taking the classes in high school and waiting until after high school. Starting pay as a automotive mechanic starting, one makes, roughly between $35,000-$45,000 a year. The money one makes depends on where one lives and on what kind of shop one works at a dealership or family run shop etc. If one did a comparison between someone that works at a dealership in Wichita and Kansas City, obviously working in Kansas City the pay is a lot better, but the living expenses in Kansas City are much more higher because it a more booming economic city than Wichita.
My Journey Through High School
When I began my freshman year here at Caldwell High, I never realized how quick the high school years would go! I wasn’t sure what type of career I wanted in my life. As I entered my sophomore year, I started thinking about how much I liked working with my hands. Throughout my life, I’ve always liked taking things apart and putting them back together. I didn’t always get things back together the way they was supposed to, but I still enjoyed it. When any of my vehicles would break down, I always wished I could diagnose and repair the problem myself. I never knew where to start looking on the vehicle that was causing the problem. Throughout the year it stayed on my mind, I found out I could go to Cowley County College for my junior and senior year. By February of my sophomore year, I made a choice that I knew would involve working on college level classes, dedication, and not getting to do as much at Caldwell High. In April of 2017, I received a letter in the mail from Cowley College that I had been accepted into the automotive program. When I got the letter I was excited but at the same I was nervous.
The main reason I was nervous was because I didn’t know what to expect or how hard college could be at times. When I started in August 2017, I wasn’t used to the college level of work and how things were worded. The first two weeks, I was having second thoughts if I was ready for college and if I could do it. I was really close to withdrawing from the course and going back to normal days of high school. So I went to my counselor, Mrs. Nance and told her I wanted to withdraw. We discussed why I should not make the decision I was about to make. We also came up with people whom I could get help from on my college work. I’m glad Mrs.Nance talked me out of making the decision I had in my mind.
I continued through the third and fourth week and it went a lot better and smoother than the first and second weeks went. I actually started to get the hang of the work and it became easier and I ended up really enjoying going to class everyday! Then there started to be school activities happening that I wasn’t able to attend, I was a little upset that I wasn’t always getting to participate in fun activities that happened through the school days. I also stopped and thought about how much I was bettering myself for the future.
Now that I’m a senior and I have almost completed the automotive program at Cowley College, it makes me happy about the choice I made. I have gained a lot of knowledge while attending the program. I can now diagnose and repair my own vehicles with the confidence I didn't have before I went through the program! I am excited to see where this program is going to take me in my life. I have also already thought of some job opportunities I have after graduation.