Teens Train For Car Repair Careers In Bloomfield Despite ‘Stigma’

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Many high school students in Essex County spent their summers working part-time jobs or bolstering their college resumes… all worthwhile endeavors. But about two dozen juniors have different summer stories to tell, courtesy of a free program at Universal Technical Institute’s (UTI) Bloomfield campus.

For three weeks, via the UTI “Ignite” program, a group of dedicated teens learned the fundamentals of automotive engines, including lessons on how vehicles are designed and manufactured, computer management and control system technologies, collision repair and welding skills.

Students also got a chance to get a leg up on the fundamental diagnostic, maintenance and repair skills they’d use on the job, UTI spokespeople said.

Participants came from across the state, some even as far as Westchester County in New York. But they were united by a common link: their love for cars.

• See related article: Bloomfield, Clifton Students Get STEM Skills By Repairing Engines
• See related article: Bloomfield Auto College Holding Free Summer Program For Teens

“I love the trades and the vocational schools and I think what they’re doing is incredible,” said Jason Smith, a rising junior at Henry Hudson Regional High School in Highlands. “I’m not someone who can sit down and be told something and read a lot of books, that’s not how I learn.”

Smith said he learns best by seeing things in front of him and working with his hands.

“I learned how to build computers and taught myself all the components,” Smith said. “That is exactly what I get at vocational school, it fits me really very well.”

Smith said that there’s still a stigma about going to vocational school instead of a traditional college.

“I’ve had some kids look at me weird,” he acknowledged. “There’s a negative perception around doing something like that, that you’re not going to make any money, like it’s some sort of bottom work.”

Several participants echoed Smith’s praise for technical school, saying that it provides a financially responsible way to get an education.

“I like how instead of paying so much money to go to a four-year college, you can start at a technical school, maybe do two years, and you can come out and start making money immediately,” commented Said Torres of the Donald Payne Sr. School of Technology in Newark.

“With a four-year college, there’s a chance you’re in debt and you’re not getting a job as you come out,” Torres said.

• See related article: Essex County Accountants Say Student Debt Is 'Financial Crisis'
• See related article: NJ Continues 'Free College' Program, Makes It Easier To Qualify

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