We did it!

I can't believe the time has finally come for me to say this, but I'm officially a journeyman electrician now! Our class graduated this past Saturday, June 5th, bringing 5 years of hard work and study to an exciting finish. The JATC did an amazing job of celebrating our successful completion of the program. We had a wonderful ceremony at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt consisting of a formal graduation as well as dinner with family, friends, members of the JATC and several members of the electrical industry. Although the spotlight was on us apprentices and our graduation, I think everyone involved could see that the event was just another indication of how well organized and talented the people who run this apprenticeship really are: it was unforgettable.

So after five years of being an apprentice, I really look forward to working as a full-fledged journeyman. This past week at work has been very interesting for me. Nothing has changed to an outsider's perspective, but I feel compelled to work as fast and as diligently as possible and to make as many independent decisions as I can. I'm working under a terrific foreman who isn't putting any extra pressure on me because of my new electrical status, but I still feel like it's my job now to emulate the work I've watched countless mechanics around me perform for the past few years. The best journeymen I've worked with have all had one quality in common: regardless of their differing strengths as electricians, they've all brought a can-do attitude to the tasks they've been asked to perform. Although I still feel like there are plenty of things I don't fully understand in the electrical field, it is this quality with which I hope to approach my job every day.