ThinkBIG

last Friday in my CTE diesel class, we had some people talk to us about a program called ThinkBIG. This program is offered by QuinnCAT where you go to school and work, and it is all paid for. you would be going to Stockton California and going to school for 2 months at a time and after the 2 months, you would come back here to Santa Maria and work on-site getting paid 20 dollars an hour while receiving on-job training.  However, you would have to be ready to make a commitment if you are going to apply. This is a 5-year commitment because you will be switching between school and work for 2 years, after school you will come out with a A.A. degree but after that, you will go straight into work, working for another 3 years after that. if you leave at any time within the 5 years you would have to pay for some of the tuition back, however, there are a lot of good benefits that come with this program. for example, living in Stockton is prepaid for however, you will be slowly paying it back from your check that you make working with cat. while working with cat you will receive work benefits and your 401k. but this is a great job and you are guaranteed job security, you will also be getting pay raises every 6 months. roughly a dollar each time. and after the 5 years, you will be given a  journeyman certificate and which is good for any job application. i personally thing this is a great opportunity for a lot of people, me especially because this is a career that i am very interested in and i plan on pursuing it.