Count him among a select few.
The prospects of a leap year, a sojourn abroad pondering the next step in life won’t be pursued anytime soon by Foothills Composite High School graduand John May.
“I ain’t taking a year off,” May said. “I have a couple buddies that are really stressing out right now. They have no idea what they’re doing in the fall, what they’re taking or anything like that.
“I just took the transition a little bit sooner.”
May has been accepted to the two-year Welding Technician program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where he will begin his post-secondary studies right away in the fall.
It’s no last minute decision for the Grade 12 student to pursue welding.
He’s had a pretty concrete idea of where he’s going for some time now.
“It’s ever since I was young,” he said. “When I was about an eight-year-old kid I used to jump in dumpsters to steal plywood so I could make bike jumps.”
Turns out being handy runs in the family.
Both of May’s grandfathers were involved in the trades, one of whom transitioned from ironworks to the farm where John picked up many of his mechanical abilities.
“I liked welding a lot and decided I was going to go try and weld and fab up cars and just learn about cars,” he said. “Right now I’m working in the car shop and thinking about doing my own custom car stuff on my own at my house.”
May opted to attend the Comp largely for its excellent trades programming
“It’s fun, you get to play with fire all day,” he said. “I got pretty hooked on it, the welding shop I was there a lot in Grade 10. I really enjoyed it then. Grade 11, I took it both semesters and was in there quite a bit and competed in skills for welding and took a couple semesters again this year.”
It didn’t take long for the dedicated student to make his presence known in Foothills welding teacher Virgil Green’s shop.
“John was a sponge from the moment he entered my shop,” Green said. “He built a replica 1969 Charger project that was an exemplar for others to aspire to. By the second semester John was quickly becoming a leader in my shop. He practiced very hard and drove our Skills Canada practice harder than we have ever trained.”
May earned a personal best fourth-place finish as a walk-on in the provincial skills competition after winning in the junior division in Grade 11.
He credits Green for pushing him in the right direction.
“He’s a very motivation guy,” May said. “He gets people to pursue their dreams. He will never shut you down from doing anything. Mr. Green was pretty influential.”
Though very much a natural with his hands, Green acknowledged May for his strong desire to learn and to improve be it through hours of repetition, a deeper understanding of science and math, reading books, watching videos or talking welding with anyone who would listen.
“I am so proud of guys like John – he’s a really bright kid – that could get into any university, but he likes working with his hands and building stuff,” Green added. “I see an extremely bright future for John – it may lead to a desk eventually, but he is excited by the opportunities that are out in the trades.”
