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| The future's bright for Jaemi Bermudez, Design Drafter |
Hi Jaemi, welcome to the blog. What's it like being a student in the Design Drafting Technology program at Green River?
Jaemi: It's very intense, but very rewarding. There are only two instructors for the program so planning your schedule is incredibly important. But they are there to help you succeed so you will not have a problem with that. The Design Drafting Technology degree is normally two years, but they helped me work on a schedule where I could graduate two quarters early! I was incredibly grateful for that. The work itself is tough, but interesting and fun, and all of your classmates are your future co-workers so you automatically have a network. The course also promotes the American Design Drafters Association's Green River Chapter. The work that you do, the friends that you make, and the skills that you learn all help you prepare for a career in drafting. You really do feel like you are part of a great learning community when you are in this course.
What factors lead you to pursue training in this field?
Jaemi: Before coming to Green River I was a set designer for theatre. Being self employed was all right, but unfortunately it wasn't helping pay the bills. I was in a string of small jobs for a long time, which burned me out. I really wanted something that I still enjoyed as much as theatre and used some of the same skills, but was more lucrative. My mom told me about the drafting program and I thought it might be a good fit. It involves a lot of AutoCAD and drawing skills, which I already had from my prior job and which I enjoyed, but it taught how to use those skills in more of an engineering capacity. Going into the drafting field seemed interesting enough for me to stay with it and offered steady work in places like Boeing, Red Dot, and other drafting or manufacturing companies, so I thought it was the way to go.
How has Workforce Education at Green River helped you reach your goals?
Jaemi: There would be no way that I would be able to meet my goals without Workforce Education. Through the BFET program, they were able to take care of my tuition so I had the means to go to school full-time. I wouldn't have been able to take any classes in my financial situation. The BFET program was a godsend. Also, everyone in their department was so helpful and accommodating. I was really grateful for that.
You're preparing to graduate with an AAS degree, along with four drafting-related certificates--congrats! What are your future plans after leaving Green River?
Jaemi: I already have a part time job with a great company called Convergint Technologies doing Fire Systems drafting and design.My hope is that they will take me on full time as soon as I graduate. But I also have leads with other companies and I have a lot of job options. Once I have more experience, I will start applying to jobs abroad and see if I can't make my dream of living in exotic places a reality :)
Funding Tip! Three Workforce Education funding programs--BFET, Worker Retraining, WorkFirst--support Design Drafting at Green River.
