When it was time to start planning his future, Jonathan Lopez, a student in Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, N.C., didn’t think a four-year college was the right fit for him. 

“I started off taking academic-based classes, but I was not that interested in them, and that made me not give it all my effort or attention,” he says. 

At The Middle College at GTCC-Jamestown, he could earn a technical or associate degree in a skilled trade. So, he tried some classes in welding and fabrication.

“It turns out, I’m really good at it,” he says. “Now I know that’s what I want to do for a career.”

Finding His Way

Although Lopez wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when he started high school at The Middle College at GTCC-Jamestown, he felt a little more at ease because his older sister had been a student there, and he knew what to expect. As a night owl, he also liked that the day started a little later than traditional high schools. But it was the smaller class sizes and the attentive staff that made him like being a student there. 

“The counselors and the teachers make everything so much easier. They’re so understanding,” he says. “I like it here.” 

He even joined the Yearbook Club his freshman year, where he learned to design yearbook pages and enjoyed learning from the upperclassmen on the staff. 

But it’s when he’s welding that he feels the most at ease. His first exposure to the trade was through his uncle, who was also a welder. Lopez recalls being impressed by the everyday items his uncle made. 

“He’d just create different things. He made cups and mugs. He’d make a lot of stuff. You’re able to make things that are nice, but also convenient, and that helps you in the real world,” Lopez says. “If you’re a structural welder, you can make the world a better place.” 

In his welding classes, Lopez has learned to pay attention to detail. His work requires intense focus and a steady hand. He learned how to be responsible for his workspace, which is shared with others. There’s little room for error in this line of work. If you make a mistake, it often means starting over.

“When I’m in that booth, when I’m welding, and the wire touches the metal, it fuses. You’ve got to be so focused,” he says. “I like what I do. I love welding. It just gives me a different kind of spark.”

A Fish Tale

There were several teachers and counselors who influenced Lopez, but there is one teacher whose time and attention he values to this day, and that is his seventh-grade science teacher, Steven Ollison.

Lopez was a seventh-grader when COVID-19 forced students to transition to online learning. Ollison taught him science that year, and a connection was made. When Lopez and his friends returned to Jamestown Middle for in-person learning in the eighth grade, they had Ollison again as a science teacher. Sensing that Lopez and his friends needed community, Ollison launched an afterschool Fishing Club where a group of 10-12 students would fish on Fridays.

“The Fishing Club was part of the JMS Science Club family. We did it to create spaces for students outside of school where the kids can make friends and have some positive experiences,” Ollison says. “Anything that gets the kids out in nature tends to help them connect to fun ways to learn new things.”

Lopez credits the Fishing Club with helping him embrace new connections with other people and believes it helped him prepare for high school. And now that he’s reached the end of that journey, he feels prepared for what’s next because of his time at the Middle College at GTCC-Jamestown.

“I am proud that I am graduating with a plan about what I am going to do after school,” says Lopez. “My brother and sister went on to college when they graduated, but I never really felt like that was for me. I wanted to work, and now I am getting the skills that will allow me to do that and make a good living too.”

Lopez, who graduated in May, is currently participating in a union apprenticeship.