A 20-year-old DACE graduate from the San Fernando Valley is already working for NASA
In her senior year of high school, Monica Hernandez knew she wasn’t interested in going to college.
“I didn’t want to put that financial burden on my family,” she said, adding she is the eldest of three daughters. “And I didn’t want to sit in college and do more homework — I was just finishing school. But I also didn’t want to take a break, because I knew myself well enough to know I would never go back.”
The pressure to make a decision was stressful, and it only intensified as graduation loomed. But then Hernandez attended her high school counselor’s presentation on trade schools.
“I’m not worried about my future now.”
Monica Hernandez, DACE graduate
“She really pushed the [DACE] aviation program,” she recalled. “For just $300 a quarter, you could learn to be an aircraft mechanic — and she said how much they made [about $40/hour].”
Hernandez was also attracted to the hands-on nature of the training program — with classes held at Van Nuys Airport — and the two-year time commitment. “I saw that in a short amount of time, I could have a good-paying career for the rest of my future,” she said. “And I could afford to pay for [the program] with my part-time job.”
Hernandez’s gamble more than paid off — she is now employed at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, an arm of NASA. The aviation field is growing, too, with the projection of 600,000 new aircraft mechanics needed over the next 10 years.
“I’m not worried about my future now,” Hernandez said. “I’m only 20 — I got this job at 19 — and I’m already making decent money.” This is in stark comparison to her peers, she said, many of whom are only halfway through college and are racking up significant student loan debt as they go.
“Do I think trade school was a blessing? I absolutely do,” Hernandez said. “And it only took me two years! It was the smartest decision I ever made.”
For more information, visit https://laraec.org/.
Written by Thea Marie Rood
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Southern California | Careers in Manufacturing-Construction |
