Pickens Technical College

You pick up skills that you wouldn’t really think of when starting this program. You have a knowledgeable instructor who puts that knowledge out there.

The teacher was very attentive to my needs; he would answer in a way I could understand.

Our instructor’s a good guy. He’s patient with students. He tries to make sure everyone’s comfortable. I think the classroom has been very welcoming; I think everyone is comfortable there, it’s a safe space.

Just go for it. Time passes, and you go to school or you don’t, but that time is just going to keep going by regardless. As a daughter of immigrant parents who didn’t get this opportunity, that’ll always be my saying: just go for it. Parents are always going to be proud. For the parents, they see themselves in their kids. So being able to do any education is rewarding not just for yourself but for your parents because you both get that certificate.

My instructor is a really good teacher. He pushes you a lot; he mentors you through the steps. He lets you do it first and then tells you if you messed up. He wants you to do it freely and be confident that you can do it because you won’t always have someone there to tell you if it’s good.

I didn’t know there were so many jobs related to this; I always thought it was just auto mechanics. This opened up a whole bunch of new career paths for me.

Here it’s hands-on. You have the experience to feel the camera, get to know the settings, know how to use the lights, the Adobe Suite, use the flashes—basically everything that you need to know for photography. Since I have the resources here at Pickens, I started to get small gigs and used the money to start getting equipment.

Here it’s more hands-on than high school. You get to do a lot more interesting stuff, like using the machines or cutting up a transmission. That’s not something you’d be able to do in high school.

I’m excited about looking for a job now that I’ve graduated. This was worth it; there was a lot I learned. That’s always something good, having these skills to fall back on.

I’m excited — graduation is one step closer to the career I want to pursue for the rest of my life.

I really enjoy this class. It offers everything I could ask for and with the hands-on experience it really helps better my learning.

The motorcycle technology program is a great hands on program, you get to do things in the first week coming here. And you get to meet other people like you and might become friends with them.

During my time in the motorcycle technology program, I have gained many skills and techniques that I otherwise would not have gained without my professors' help and ingenuity.

As a year 2 student at Pickens dental assisting I’ve had the pleasure of meeting tons of new people and it's an exciting new experience every day. The dental class is the start to a new beginning and it is very exciting and fun!

As a high school student being able to have this experience is great, especially with the help of our teachers! Knowing that once I'm out of high school I will be guaranteed a job within the field I chose makes this experience even better!