“It’s only two years,” Nicholas Sakry said as he explained how trying to make a job and school work at the same time just…doesn’t. “You’re slipping up. You’re making mistakes. You’re not doing well on tests.” So just commit to one, and with school it’s only two years and you’ll earn that money back and then some with your degree.
The Medium Heavy Truck student is in his second year after a first year as a PSEO student. Hearing his story, you realize how motivated Sakry is.
He was planning on going through the automotives Discovery program at Apollo High School, but after working at a local truck shop and talking with instructor Matt Hoepner, he landed on the MHT program here at SCTCC. Overall, Sakry had a very positive experience with PSEO.
“It’s something that you want to do. In high school there’s a few things you can specialize in, but this is what you want to do here,” he said. “It’s a better experience for the mind.”
After the start of the school year, the program starts up the SkillsUSA club on campus, which participates in community events through the year, and then works toward the state competition. The first step is the on-campus competition, which is judged by local industry partners and graduates of the program.
Sakry and his classmates went through the stations where they diagnosed problems and fixed what was wrong with the diesel trucks, and he came in sixth place on campus. He and six classmates were able to go to the state competition, with Sakry competing at the high school level.
“[At state] it was a similar thing, just a harder level and more actual diagnosis and identifying,” he said of the state level. “And we went through the award ceremony, and diesel’s at the end—it always is for some reason—and my name is read. Best feeling in the world.”
Sakry placed first at state in the high school competition. He was headed to the national competition.
In June, he and five other SCTCC student representatives flew to Atlanta to take part in the SkillsUSA competition.
“You had 26 minutes to figure out why this thing won’t start. Why? What’s going on? Why won’t my hydraulics raise or lower?” Then it was off to the next station, for the whole-day event from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. “You keep going and you find what you’re good at. I’m good at electrical, so I know I did well on that station.
At the awards ceremony, the SCTCC contingent was sitting together, and when Minnesota was called during the diesel portion, Sakry had the experience of a lifetime.
“I was so pumped up,” he said.
This year he’s excited to finish up his MHT degree and graduate, and he’s definitely ready for Skills to start up again and looking forward to possibly heading to nationals once again.
As for future plans, Sakry’s on track for advanced technician and then eventually master technician. Potentially he’d like to go into operations management or service management but is open to whatever opportunity presents itself.
Speaking of opportunities, earlier this year Sakry visited RDO Equipment in Sauk Rapids and thought he’d like to work there. Balancing full-time work and school was tough with his previous overnight job. So, he applied to RDO, got an offer, and accepted a part-time job working Thursdays and Fridays to prioritize his education. Now, Sakry is focused on pursuing his Medium Heavy Truck degree for his future.