This job taught me a lot
The mechanics of Worcester had much to teach me. I learned how to pickup a trade, and integrate myself into a work environment that was complicated.
('complicated' may well be an understatement.)
Operating these machines is a minimum requirement
I mean this really was a fun job!
But it also carried significant responsibility,
at the minimum I'd operate 6 or 7 different 50,000 lbs machines daily.
This is Mark,
sitting where an engine should be.
Marc and the team worked long hours, and expected me to do the same.
My shift was 7 - 3.30, but if I showed up and left then, I'd be asked: "showing up late again?", and "leaving early?"
I quickly learned that overtime was the norm.
I'm proud to have been a member of Local 4.
This job gave me the opportunity to join Local 4.
Commonly known as IUOE, or
The International Union of Operating Engineers.
I'm incredibly grateful to have been a part of such a unique, pragmatic, and capable group of operators. They are such a large part of who I am today.
I also picked up having real pride in my work
The mechanics taught me to have pride in what I did. If I did a poor job on a project, I'd redo it until it wasn't.
I also knew that what I did mattered.
This is seriously one of my favorite photos. I could walk around my city (Worcester) and say:
"That's one of my machines! I serviced that."
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A bird's eye view
At Monroe Tractor, we were shipping out excavators daily. I quickly learned that jobs had to be done because people needed their machines to work. This was not some arbitrary task.
I took this same mentality back to my education and started earning top marks. I stopped thinking about assignments as simple to-do items. Instead, each project had a plan, goals, deadlines, and in the end it had to get done.
I still carry this outlook with me today.