[MUSIC PLAYING]
WESLEY: Working in aerospace as a machinist
is a big responsibility because you're making something that's
going into a big jet plane.
It's up to me to make a good part.
That's what's holding the engines in the plane.
I'm Wesley Hipolito, age 22, and I go to Asnuntuk Community
College.
My dad used to play around with a lot of paper airplanes.
He used to show us how he makes them.
When I was in high school, and I wasn't
thinking about my future.
You just want to enjoy your high school years.
And that's what it was all about.
It took me a while to actually understand,
this is an opportunity that you can take and really
get a step up on life.
And when I finally realized it, I just went for it.
And I started loving it.
I'd love to fly the plane that I make a part for.
I could say, hey, I made that part.
I know it's good.
I was a good student.
I loved history.
I always had a hard time with math.
In my sophomore year, I was in my drafting class.
Just out of nowhere, this flier was on the ground.
And it said Asnuntuk Community College, here in Connecticut.
MOTHER: Wesley came home from school with a flyer.
I read it.
And I come from a manufacturing background.
WESLEY: My mom, she really pushes me to--
pushes us.
I'm the oldest of five.
We call either the bulldog or pit bull.
If there's something she wants, she'll go and do it.
And she'll push us over the edge of what we think we can do.
MOTHER: And I said, hmm, we're going to this open house.
WESLEY: It was a huge step.
It was one of the best things I've ever gone into.
I came into a program called College Connections Program.
A high school student can come to Asnuntuk,
for their last two periods of school,
to learn a trade in electronics, machining, or welding.
And I picked machining.
And when I got into machining and they showed me
the equations in order to make something, it just clicked.
I got a reason to learn that math and a reason
to keep it in my head.
Ready to go?
TEACHER: Ready to go.
FACULTY ADVISOR: I think it shows that you can take
college technology, the Pathway Program, and this ATE Regional
Center grant to any level that any student would want to go.
TEACHER: That looks pretty good.
WESLEY: What is ATE really fully about?
TEACHER: The ATE stands for Advanced Technological
Education.
And it's the NSF, the National Science Foundation,
that provides this grant, through the Connecticut
College of Technology, so we could
create the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.
DIR. MANUFACTURING TECH: The National Science Foundation
saw that, unless this country starts
to invest in young people and gets parents and educators
involved and immersed in what's happening
in advanced manufacturing, we are not going to succeed.
We're going to continue to lose jobs.
TEACHER: What do you think?
WESLEY: Perfect.
TEACHER: Beautiful.
We're in good shape.
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WESLEY: I got into another program, which sets me up
with a company.
If I do good and my grades are great and they like me,
they'll give me a job and pay for my last year
in the manufacturing program.
FLANAGAN CEO: We make parts for jet engines,
for both the aerospace and the ground turbine industry.
Our workforce was aging, and we realized
we needed to be more proactive about creating
the next generation of machinists.
DIR. MANUFACTURING TECH: We were able to go to Flanagan Industries
and say, this is a bright young person.
This is a person with the right attitude.
And it's worked magically.
He's now been with Flanagan almost three years
and continues to grow and develop.
WESLEY: When I graduated, they just asked me, do I want a job?
And I said, yeah!
Got the job and that was it.
I was working.
Just, it was so smooth.
FLANAGAN CEO: The primary part that Wesley makes
is the low pressure turbine case that goes in the 135 Joint
Strike Fighter.
Wesley is capable of running it because of the background he
got here and because of his willingness
to learn and to continue to learn.
And that's one of the most important attributes
that we saw when we first met him.
WESLEY: Any dreams that I have I can reach, I can get to.
I'm in a really great position in my life
because from right here, right now,
I could go on to do anything.
Just to have that knowledge and have that confidence
that I could make anything, and I could do anything is awesome.
[MUSIC PLAYING]