Today's open house, by most measures, was a big success. The weather was great and the campus was crowded with potential students and their families. Mr. Surra, two machine tool students, and myself continuously spoke with interested students for over three hours. In previous years, these things alone would have made me consider this a successful day of recruiting but today there was something different.
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| Mr. Surra "talking shop" at today's open house |
Many times in the past I found myself trying to sell and convince people that the machining trade was a good career path. Skepticism was something I had to overcome with almost every other person I spoke to. Today the air was different: I can't recall trying to convince a single person that getting into machining was a worthy choice. Instead, a majority of today's questions revolved around class size, equipment in the lab, financial aid, and whether or not they were too late to enroll. Needless to say it was encouraging and I am hopeful that it's a sign that things are shifting.
With all the publicity about student loan debt and the unemployment rates of college graduates, it is only a matter of time until parents and students start to reconsider college choices. If eventual employment is the goal of acquiring a college degree then employment should be used as the primary measure for assessing a degree. If that logic becomes the norm then programs such as Machine Tool Tech. will be in greater demand.
That's great to hear. I was planning on attending, but alas worked until 2am the night before. I look forward to participating in the future. It's very important to me that we continue the charge and propel US manufacturing to the next level. We got this!
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