Tommy Stevens, 20, of Bridgewater, graduated from Woodstock Union High School in 2014 and went straight into the workforce. He is a machine operator at Hypertherm. This is his story in his own words.
“As of my junior year in high school, I didn’t have a clue about what I wanted to do; I was really open-minded to everything that could be possible. I didn’t know how to go about doing what I wanted to do, which was something in the computer-related field. Going to a four-year college was in the back of my mind, but I never took the SATs and never looked into scholarships. I wasn’t quite sure the path I wanted to go down. I’d heard a lot of stories about people getting four-year degrees and not having a job to work at, and working at fast food restaurants and other dead-end jobs. Getting out of four years of school and then working to pay off the loans didn’t make sense to me.
“My high school was one of the schools partnered with Hartford Area Career and Technology Center (HACTC) and we could choose from a plethora of classes. We could attend one and choose three when applying. My first pick was industrial mechanics and welding, and that was the class I got into. They have an amazing staff of teachers who push you to see the best in yourself.
“I took classes at HACTC for both my junior and senior years. The first year attending HACTC, I enjoyed the classes but I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go after. By the second year I started to look around area businesses that employed people in manufacturing jobs. By that point I was pretty certain that would be the path I was going to take. I applied to Hypertherm right after high school in June and started the next month, in July 2014.
“I love my job. If I could go back and change anything I wouldn’t. Hypertherm is an amazing company to be in. I didn’t pursue any college out of high school, but Hypertherm sent me to a college training class, through River Valley Community College. It’s called the Star Machine Program, and it was a college curriculum class that earned 28 college credits. I attended for 10 weeks and Hypertherm covered tuition and they paid me to attend. It was fully paid training. I learned all the fundamentals of operating computer numeric control machines.
“Down the road I may look into other classes. Hypertherm also has a full-degree scholarship program, as long as it pertains to the field I want to work in at the company, so I might further my education to get a different position within the company.”