During grade school, Timothy Dartez frequently would pass by Baton Rouge Community College with his mother on their daily ride home. Seeing students walking around the Mid Citycampus became implanted in his mind. He was intrigued by the college and became curious about the programs offered. Fast forward several years and today, he’s one of a few multi-technical program students on the campus.
Growing up, Dartez was always fascinated with trucks and developed an interest in learning how to build things with various materials.
“When I was getting ready to enroll, I looked at other colleges but found that BRCC was the best fit for me,” said Dartez. “By doing research in the field, I realized that diesel truck (technician) is where I wanted to go for the career opportunities.”
Dartez said the BRCC Diesel Heavy Truck program prepared him to learn everything from electrical, suspension, engine, interior, and HVAC. It gave him the tools to be more flexible and exposed him to several career opportunities. While taking a class in the Heavy Truck program, he was required to take a two-day welding course that sparked his interest.
“I was intrigued taking the welding class,” said Dartez. “Being in heavy equipment, a lot of time you need to weld stuff to get your equipment out on time. It’s always someone looking to get something welded, whether it’s family, friends, or someone around town.”
So, Dartez took that interest and enrolled in the Welding program at BRCC as well.
Although welding was a new challenge for Dartez, he believes things will get better with more time, learning and practice. He plans to utilize his welding skills to match his creative side in the future.
Now that he’s completed the requirements for the Diesel Heavy Truck program and nearing the end of the Welding program, he plans to continue his learning at BRCC and enroll next in the college’s CDL program and earn a credential of a professional commercial driver. Dartez said it’s good to see that the program is back at the college due to the high demand for truck drivers. Even though he doesn’t plan to drive every day, he said it will give him the flexibility to get the job done quicker if he’s needed to haul something to a client.
“My goal is to learn as much as possible while in school,” said Dartez. “So I can be as useful as I can to an employer once I start my career.”
He credited the professors for encouraging him to do an internship that helped him develop confidence in his abilities. He’s also thankful for a great support system that enables him to be successful in college. Dartez said he appreciates his parent, mentors, and several professors who gave real-life scenarios during lab training that students would face in a work environment. He emphasized that his professors showed interest in him and were willing to work around their schedules to help him and other students become successful.
“Something I really enjoy doing is building stuff, said Dartez. “To be able to do that for a career and make money is something I would like to do.”
During his free time, Dartez volunteers as a weightlifting coach at one of the local high schoolswhere he trains students for powerlifting competitions. He said he enjoys training and traveling to competitions throughout the state and nationally. His goal is to gain several years of experience and then build a custom fabrication shop where he can continue to use his talents to develop creative concepts.