“Originally I wanted to start out with small engines,” she explains, “but then I was told about the high school diesel classes at Bridgerland Applied Technology College.” As Lettie began to explore the option, she discovered that BATC’s diesel shop houses a variety of big engines to work on, plus she could get college credits for attending. That sealed the deal. Lettie took the classes during her junior year and enjoyed it so much that she attended the diesel lab throughout the summer and enrolled again her senior year.
Her favorite part of the classes? “Mainly getting out and getting my hands dirty,” she says easily. “I got to work with my hands; I got to see what I was doing; and I got to see it all come together.”
To instructor Eric "Frankie" Oman, Lettie was a standout from the beginning. “In the first weeks of class, it was apparent that Lettie was going to be a superior student based on her attention and pertinent questions. Once we moved into the shop, she was demonstrating that her mechanical skills were natural and part of her being.” According to her instructors, Lettie is a complete package: she has the drive, initiative, IQ and desire to do the work, so it was no surprise that in April 2016, Lettie was hired at Les Schwab Tires in North Logan, four weeks before graduating high school.
“BATC is a great preparation outlet,” Bryan Johnson, area manager for Les Schwab Tires states. “Quite honestly, this is a hard job; so, seeing [Lettie] jump right in with the rest of the staff and know what to do, it’s obvious she’s very well prepared— much more so than most people we hire."
Johnson states that there are three things they look for in potential employees: someone that smiles, someone who wants to work hard, and someone who wants to serve people. Take those personality traits and combine them with her education and you’ll find that Lettie was the perfect fit!
What advice would Lettie have for other students? “Get as much experience as you can and listen to the people who know what they’re talking about because they’ve been there, they’ve had the experience.” And then she follows up with a smile as she says, “Listen to them and keep your head on straight. I went in thinking I knew some stuff and then they took it and went into an even deeper level,”
For more information about the Diesel Program or the high school diesel classes, please visit http://batc.edu/programs/diesel.