April 2023 Student Spotlight

April 13, 2023

Jerica Jay is a leading example of how one can forge their path in their passions.  From Colefax, California, she is taking Diesel and ASM.  Her grandpa was a truck driver and a diesel mechanic growing up, and it’s been something that she has always been fascinated by and that she wanted to learn more about, knowing that she would be able to go to work and love what she’s doing every day.  “I always leaned more toward, for a loose term, “blue collar work.””  Jerica speaks to the opportunities that have arisen, both personally and at the school.  She talks about the opportunity to do live work on the trucks at school in the diesel program. She then goes to talk about her favorite project, a 1964 Corvair.  She says she has refurbished and restored it to where it is reliable and looks great.

Jerica’s interest in WyoTech was sparked because it seemed to her to be one of the best technical trade schools in the US, and it was far enough away from home that it let her gain some new experiences.  She says that her biggest challenge was explaining to her family that she wanted to break the mold of the traditional university.  “My dad was not happy when I didn’t want to go to a four-year school.  He came to terms once he saw the school and was a lot happier about it, but it was a little tough with the family aspect when I came to the trades.”  She also mentioned being a female in a male-dominated field.  “I’ve always worked in a male-dominated field, even back home.  It can be a lot, but you learn to roll with the punches,” she jokes.  Her advice to students looking into WyoTech is that “This is one of the best schools you can come to.  Even if you have to take out a loan, you know you’re going to be able to pay that loan back.  It’s a good industry to be in, whatever core program you take.  It’s rewarding and I think you learn a lot at this school.  There’s opportunity here to grow not only in education but also as a person.”  She talks about how the programs are pushing her toward her dream of working in agriculture and owning a ranch.  “Learning to be a diesel mechanic is pushing me closer to that every day.” 

About WyoTech

Forge your path at WyoTech in Laramie, Wyoming. We are a destination school for future technicians pursuing full-time training in Automotive, Diesel, Collision & Refinishing, and Welding. *Pair your core training with six specialty programs in Street Rod, High-Performance Power Trains, Applied Service Management, Chassis Fabrication, Advanced Diesel, and Trim & Upholstery.

*No specialty program is necessary to graduate from our Welding program.