What does it take to turn childhood curiosity into a thriving career? Read how Santa Ana College student Gabriel transformed his love for building Lego sets into troubleshooting aerospace tech, uncovering unexpected lessons along the way to becoming an Engineering Technician. Discover how he bridged the gap from retail to the engineering world—and the invaluable advice he has for anyone ready to make their own leap.
All this fueled my interest in this field.
My interests that led to where I currently am first started when I was a kid. Back then I would always be playing with Legos, sometimes I would build on my own while other times would follow the building instructions. This led to me gaining interests in STEM, more specifically Engineering. During high-school I joined robotics competitions and would come home with trophies and medals. All this fueled my interest in this field. During college I started shadowing some engineers in their daily life and learned it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do everyday. Thanks to Network Kinection, I was able to become prepared for the current apprenticeship at an aerospace company. I am enjoying my time learning while finishing up my Associates Degree in Mechatronics Engineering. My goal is to continue down a more technician path and ultimately become an Engineering Technician.
Thanks to my prior experience and desire to learn more, I am able to help out the team I am currently with.
When I first joined the [Parker Hannifin] team, I did possess some skills relating to my current position. Some skills include working with different tools like digital multimeters, calipers, and basic hand tools. Thanks to my prior experience and desire to learn more, I am able to help out the team I am currently with. My coworkers/mentors have been shown their gratitude to having me help them often and mentioned how it helps with monthly goals of units sold for the company. A significant challenge I faced when I first started learning here was that it was a proper work setting in a company. My past job experiences pretty much summed up to just working in retail like Target. Working here has shown me another work-related world. Everyone here is nice and doesn't mind helping each other out, it really does feel like I am working with a team.
One key piece of advice I would give to future interns/apprentices is to take lots of notes in their field at work. From my experience its best to have notes ready, like a step-by-step guide, for vital parts of one's work. Notes reduce mistakes and allows for good work to be done.
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