Chris D'Antico, Trade School to Chaffey
Humans of Chaffey
Now in his thirties, D’Antico attends Chaffey after spending years figuring out his education. A month or two after graduating from high school, D’Antico’s parents decided he should go to Chaffey because he did not have a career path and was not working. His parents wanted him to do something. He explains:
“The first couple years I was just taking random courses..I was doing that for 4 years or so and a year or two of working, still trying to do classes at Chaffey.”
By that time, half of his general education requirements were completed. Looking at how trade school came into the picture, D’Antico explains:
“For a couple of semesters I wasn’t getting the classes I needed. My registration day was so late, so finally I just decided to look around and I ended up coming to UEI.”
Around 2014, he earned a certificate of completion from an IT program at the United Education Institute (UEI) off Rochester and Ontario Mills Parkway. After the program’s nine months, he attempted to get work with the certificate. However, he was not eligible for certain IT jobs because his Certificate of Completion did not mean he is certified. He went back to unrelated-work and “forgot about the certification.”
D'Antico uses some of the skills he learned from trade school to this day. Since the curriculum he learned at UEI was from five to six years ago, he believes a refresher course would be needed. D'Antico might intentionally use his computer programming certificate to enter the IT field in the future, but right now he is choosing a different path.
D'Antico had been working with temporary employment agencies for months. He finds the work taxing and is pursuing education while working full time. His history includes five full-time jobs, so hard work is not a stranger to D'Antico.
Before this Fall semester started, D’Antico took assessment tests with John, then took the Career Center’s assessment test. These tests introduced him to drafting since the topic was common among the tests. Prior to taking the assessment tests, D’Antico did not know drafting was the way to go. He sees himself finishing a degree in architecture if he understands the curriculum and is doing well in his classes.
To those who are considering going back to school, but are not sure what to explore, how to handle it or what major D'Antico answers with:
“I would suggest doing what I did. First, take the assessment test where your strengths and weaknesses are and then go from there.”