 I wanted to pursue a youth apprenticeship program because if I were to go to a four-year university, I would probably just be bouncing around from major to major trying to figure out what I wanted to do. But with the youth apprenticeship program, I would get paid to work. I wouldn't have to worry about any student loans, and it was the best of both worlds for me that I ended up liking what I'm doing here. Being able to get hands-on experience as well as college credits at the same time I think is very beneficial. In my past three years working under the Guilford Apprenticeship program, I would say that I have grown exponentially. In the beginning, I was 17 years old and I had no clue what any type of machine work was like. I had no clue what I would be doing. I had no grasp on how products were made throughout a shop. When I'm at my job, I can take what I've learned in school and apply it there and vice versa. During the difficult time of 2020, youth apprenticeship has been beneficial to me and that I have almost a guaranteed job right now. My employer is not looking to get rid of any of us. We even had another group of apprentices come on this year, so they're only looking to expand and I think is very beneficial for those who may be living in homes that are not having a great influx of money at this time. From my own personal experience, I've been told that I am giving the other male apprentices a run for their money because we work just as hard as them. Any employer will notice that you're working hard to show that you can do just as good, if not better, than anybody else in the field. When I actually came to my company, there was quite a few women and it's not always hard hats and doing construction work or working on machinery and factories. We have people who need to be programmers and sit on computers all day. As apprenticeship programs continue to grow across the country, I would like to see an expansion of job variety. When I started as an apprentice, the only job available for me was advanced manufacturing. Last year they started a logistics field and I believe in the next one to two years they might start a medical field, which I think is very beneficial for students who want to go into nursing. To a high school student that's considering you the apprenticeship as a path, I would say to go for it. To me, there's no downside to it. They are paying you for it, so you'll be getting money and knowledge that you can apply to whatever you want to take later on and decide that this is not the path for you.