HOLLAND — The latest Zeeland West graduate Adam Leeuw credits the Careerline Tech Center for encouraging him understand so a great deal by way of two several years of the Diesel/Weighty Devices Mechanics plan at CTC.
Leeuw set that finding out to the check last month, competing in the Diesel Equipment Technologies opposition at the 2021 SkillsUSA Countrywide Leadership and Capabilities Virtual Conference.
More than 20 learners throughout the state competed just after excelling at point out-amount competitions, but Leeuw arrived out on top, profitable the competition’s gold medal.
“I was actually a tiny stunned,” Leeuw stated of listening to his name introduced. “I experienced gained state, but this was going up towards anyone else that received their point out. The way they examine it off, third location then second position, I considered ‘there’s no way.’ Then they mentioned my name. It’s however variety of challenging to comprehend.”
The levels of competition consisted of nine stations including a prepared examination, a virtual position interview, push axle and brakes for semis, transmissions, hydraulics, operator natural environment, failure analysis, live engine and vehicle inspection.
Other than the published examination and job interview, each station expected competition to assess, diagnose and/or maintenance unique facets of vehicles and large products.
“It was very a little bit of stuff,” Leeuw claimed. “The a person I was anxious about was the one particular with the live engine. I was a small anxious just to see what that entailed, but when I was done I felt pretty self-confident.”
Leeuw extra that he was not a admirer of the job interview station thanks to the structure — pupils had to history video clips of them selves answering composed inquiries relatively than a dwell job interview — but felt fantastic about the other 8 regions.
Subscribe:Check out our offers and browse the local news that matters to you.
More:Tech Centre learners assists classmate battling cancer
This summer season, Leeuw started off performing for Caterpillar (CAT) by a scholarship and internship program. He will show up at Owens Neighborhood University in Ohio where he’ll alternate concerning 8 weeks of college and 8 months of total-time function.
“After I do my schooling for two years, I’ll be a comprehensive-time technician at CAT,” he claimed.
Leeuw said he’s interested in all regions of the industry and he’d choose to do the job with large tools far more than semis. He thanked the CTC and its instructors for the purpose they played in his schooling.
“I have to give very a lot just about all of the credit score to the Careerline Tech Center,” he mentioned. ““It’s incredible how considerably I have uncovered at the Tech Heart. It suggests a lot about a plan when pretty much each and every 12 months they have a pupil acquire or put very nicely in point out or countrywide competitions. I learned so significantly and would advocate Tech to any person.”
Employees at the CTC spoke hugely of Leeuw’s enthusiasm and dedication for the area.
“Adam arrived into Tech soon after the university yr was finished to keep on to work with me and get ready for the countrywide competitiveness,” mentioned teacher Jason Alberda. “He takes his training severely and it displays.”
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at [email protected]. Adhere to him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.