Well Spring is here and it’s just another reason our retirees head back from Florida and Arizona until the first leaves fall in Autumn.

The 5th year apprentices are starting to smell the barn and foolishly think they'll be done with school soon. You would think they would know better because they see all the Journeymen that come back to take classes. Somehow the 5th years never think they will ever be in that boat. I guess time makes liars of us all.

I watch this same development happen every year here. The 5th years chomping at the bit to finish school and become Journeymen and make their mark in the industry, while at the same time wondering if they actually know enough to run a job or do service on their own. There is always that bit of self doubt that creeps into our brains. But the good news is when you lose that, you cease to learn and improve. You really don't come back for upgrade classes and this then means you are done with school.

At this same time the first years are thinking they will NEVER be done with their apprentceship because five........ more....... years........ is........ sooooooo..........lonnnnnnggggggggg...................The second, third and fourth years are trying to decide if they should give up a summer and take classes now or double up in the winter. My advice on this is that whatever you do will be wrong. Coming to class in summer is very tough and having to take two classes at the same time in winter is very tough also. So flip a coin and give it your best shot; eventually you'll get through it.

If all this wasn't enough, we are also getting ready for interviews for new apprentices. You have to wonder what these applicants think when, as they are waiting to be interviewed, they see all these apprentices talking, joking, complaining, laughing. You wonder if there is some measure of jealousy toward those who have already been accepted. Or is there a "man if this idiot got in then I should be a shoo-in" thought process. Or do they wonder if they actually have enough on the ball to succeed in this program. The terms we use daily and the work we perform without thinking can be very intimidating to those on the outside trying to get in.

So this little apprentice play will go on until sometime in May when the last class ends and we start up the summer schedule. I've witnessed it for years and hope to see it for a few more. And you know, with a lot of work and a little luck, maybe your childrens' children will get to enjoy this same little drama.

Ron

Contact Ron - rmichaelis@jatc153.com