(ATLANTA, Georgia) – About 40 students, including some alumni, representing eight of Texas State Technical College’s 11 campuses are preparing to compete at this week’s SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
SkillsUSA is a professional organization focused on employability, leadership and technical skills that help college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 contests at the state and national events in which students can compete.
Students qualified for the national conference by placing among the top three in contests at the SkillsUSA Texas Postsecondary Leadership and Skills Conference held earlier this year.
“It’s exciting to see so many TSTC campuses represented here in Atlanta,” said Brian Bohannon, TSTC’s statewide SkillsUSA manager. “It shows how united we are across the state in giving our students every opportunity to shine on a national stage and represent the best of Texas talent.”
The TSTC students and faculty members arrived in Atlanta on Sunday, June 22. A TSTC meeting was held Monday, June 23, when conference credentials and state pins were handed out. A Texas delegation meeting was held in the evening to discuss details for the week.
The Fort Bend County campus has four students competing for the first time at the national level. Students will take part in the Mechatronics and Robotics: Urban Search and Rescue contests.
Dylan Chudoba, of Rosenberg, graduated earlier this year from the Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology program. He makes up half of the Mechatronics team, which received the gold medal at the SkillsUSA Texas postsecondary contest.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Chudoba said about the experience. “We learned stuff as soon as possible. I thought, ‘Man, we really did it’ at state.”
The team has been studying hydraulics and pneumatics to prepare for the national competition. Chudoba said his goal is to see what his weaknesses are during the contest, but also to try to win a medal.
Doel Silva, a TSTC student at the Harlingen campus who lives in San Benito, won the silver medal in the Aviation Maintenance contest at the SkillsUSA Texas postsecondary conference. Because the gold medal winner was unable to travel to Atlanta, Silva will represent Texas.
Silva, an Aviation Maintenance student scheduled to graduate in August, has been doing extra work outside of class to prepare for the national conference.
“It will be good to learn about myself and how I will react under pressure,” he said.
Silva has already had one experience he will not forget: his first time on an airplane. He said he enjoyed feeling the effect of the thrust reversers, which slow down airplanes for landings.
Several contest orientations will be held Tuesday, June 24. The conference’s opening session will be held Tuesday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Television host Mike Rowe, an advocate for the trades, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.
Competitions will continue Wednesday, June 25, and Thursday, June 26. More than 1,200 medals will be awarded to middle school, high school and postsecondary students at the closing session Friday, June 27, at State Farm Arena.
About 18,000 people are projected to attend this week’s conference, sleeping in more than 40,000 hotel rooms and contributing more than $32 million to the Atlanta economy, according to information from SkillsUSA.
For more information on SkillsUSA, go to skillsusa.org.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.