Matt Grommesh

"I wandered around in different jobs, trying to find what I was good at. After I took a job in a pool and hot tub store, I learned how to repair them and fix leaks. That became my favorite part of the job, so I decided to look into repair jobs, and plumbing became of interest.

I have two kids and work full-time, so the fact that I could go to class once a week in the evenings was a big part of how I managed to go. Any trade program needs to have hands-on experience to be effective, and this program was set up very well. M State has a mock building set up so you will actually plumb a bathroom, use power tools and learn to solder. We also were actively learning fittings and technical information to be better equipped when we got a job in the field.

Rick, our instructor, had us job shadow for 40 hours to get real-world experience and helped line up interviews with employers. I think almost everyone from my class had a job lined up before the program was done."

Matt graduated with highest honors at the end of summer semester 2021.