Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Welding Ryan Fincher’s love for welding sparked when he noticed an older friend was training and competing in high school “I fell in love with welding the moment I struck an arc,” he said. I’ve always been competitive, so I dove right in to prove I could be…
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Representing the United States in Web Technologies Five years ago, Matthew Vreman would never have dreamed of competing on the WorldSkills USA team for web design—he knew nothing about it! Having always had an interest in technology, he wanted to take a class at his local technical college. The web design program, in particular, caught…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Restaurant Service Ever since Colt Schultz could walk, he was cooking with his mother. A self-described people person, he was introduced to the craft of restaurant service through his Clear Springs High School culinary program. “Our chef, Kathleen Roussel, noticed my outgoing personality and my knack for meeting…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Print Media Brittany Whitestone discovered her love for the print industry at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center. In her junior year of high school, she enrolled in the tech center for print production because she was interested in graphic design. She quickly realized, though, that she…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Plumbing and Heating As a freshman at Smith Vocational Agricultural High School, Tim Girouard was introduced to 12 different hands-on trades. It didn’t take long for him to discover he was skilled in plumbing and heating. “My teachers inspired me to continue to improve my skills and encouraged…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Mechatronics Curt Love discovered his skill in mechatronics in college, but it wasn’t love at first program. “Initially, I didn’t really understand or enjoy this part of my classes. But eventually I became fascinated!” Curt lives for the feeling of accomplishment that comes with seeing a machine work…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Mechatronics While taking an electronics elective course in high school, Ryan discovered his passion and natural knack for mechatronics. “The aspect that I most enjoy is having a problem, and then logically and methodically finding and implementing a solution to it.” Ryan first got involved with SkillsUSA in…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Mechanical Engineering Ben Campbell has always loved making things. Since he was young, he was either drawing plans or building with Legos. Ben discovered engineering and drafting courses in high school, and he credits his passion and knowledge to two of his teachers, Emmett Wemp and Roc Cox.…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Heavy Vehicle Maintenance When Ryan Meppelink was 15 years old, he –along with his cousin Darin – worked to overhaul Ryan’s father’s pickup truck. After completing that project, Ryan began thinking about a future in vehicle maintenance. Darin, who worked as a technician at an equipment dealership, would…
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Representing the United States at WorldSkills in Hairdressing Rebekah Hagberg’s family is no stranger to hairdressing. As early as fifth grade, Rebekah remembers playing with her Grandma Stienbaugh’s mannequin heads. Since then, she’s received her first pair of hair clippers and shears from her Grandma Hagberg, interned at her aunt’s hair salon, and has inherited…
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