Carlos Alarcon
Success Story
Carlos Alarcon is a lucky fellow. He’s also ambitious, hard-working, and caring. He was lucky to have a woodworking teacher, Andy McHaffie, who is also the Apprenticeship Coordinator for the four high schools in the Fort Zumwalt School District, near St. Louis. Carlos mentioned that he was interested in machining and Andy directed him to Quest Specialty Products, which makes precision parts for aerospace, medical, and other manufacturers. Carlos became an apprentice CNC Machine Operator. (CNC – Computer Numerically Controlled – machines are automated but must be programmed, set up, and monitored.) He enjoys going to work because he is always learning and the people he works with are “super nice.” His supervisors explain how to set up the machine for every new part and how to inspect the finished parts. But if his supervisor isn’t available, he asks whoever is nearby and they are always knowledgeable and willing to help.
Completing his apprenticeship will give Carlos a certificate and 35-45 tuition-paid college credit hours. He is confident that he can continue working at Quest but he also hopes to advance by taking postsecondary courses in machining, which requires more experience and skill than CNC machine operating. Eventually he would like to become a mechanical engineer. Part of the value of his apprenticeship is that he will be able to continue working, during the summer if not year-round, to earn the money he will need. He plans to ask whether Quest might help pay his way.
According to Carlos, time management is the hardest part of his apprenticeship. It was easy during the summer when he started, but now he takes math, English, and history in his home high school and a class in precision machining in an area technical high school. He reports to work right after school and sometimes stays until 10:30, leaving little time for homework or his family. He is grateful that Quest is extremely flexible with his hours to minimize conflict with school.
School classes are an important complement to his work-based learning. His machining class is set up like a machine shop but with more manually-operated machines. He is learning to program CNC machines. He took geometry as a freshman and had discovered that, “Geometry is your best friend in machining.” He uses it to enter dimensions in his calculator to determine angles. He knows that machinists also use trigonometry.
Work experience teaches lessons that can’t be learned from books. Carlos saw himself as having social skills before he started but had to learn some new ones, such as how to introduce himself to new people he met at work. He also learned to behave appropriately at work: how to “act mature, a little bit above your age.” He appreciates that even though his co-workers aren’t always “joking and acting goofy” like his friends, they know how to joke around, a little. Having an adult job has also made Carlos feel more responsible, something that carries over to school.
In addition to the support he gets from his supervisors, co-workers, and even the company’s owner, Carlos feels supported by his family, who, he says, “can’t believe I’m working in a machine shop as my first job.” His parents believe finishing will be important for his future, and he agrees: “I’m always trying to get a step ahead, so I can become successful in my future."