Occupational Olympics students give their all

Alexis Luna and Sharon Loayza, Staff Writer
April 5, 2012
Filed under Student Life

As the students at Enochs High School prepared for the 2012 Occupational Olympics, so did other schools in Modesto. The Occupational Olympics event was held at the Turlock Fair Grounds on Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
The Occupational Olympics is an organization where students can compete with other students. They use skills that they learned in their regional occupational program classes. Modesto City Schools district was preparing for this event as well as Enochs High Schools.

Senior Garrett Balzer tested his skills in the firefighter category. “I gained motivation just to try harder,” Garrett Balzer said.

Senior Scott Anderson won first place in the firefighting competition, and senior Joseph Gerber won second place in the same category. This event isn’t just about competing. It’s about gaining experience in a subject that students  have been giving their all in.

Amaya competed in Floriculture. “Winning isn’t everything,” senior Natalie Amaya said. “Occupational Olympics is an event where you can have fun, if you win that’s a bonus.”
Winning isn’t everything to everyone, sometimes it’s just about learning and having new experiences.

Junior Nick Tombe competing in welding said “I gained from this experience how to work under pressure.”

Natalie Amaya also felt that she learned something important through this competition.  “I gained the experience of competing with different people,” Amaya said.  “The most memorable thing that happened for me was I got [to] see people that I haven’t seen in a long time,” Amaya said. “It was cool seeing other kids compete in various areas of work”

“During the oral board interview, I was told to do some stand up comedy,” senior Garrett Balzer said. “At the end, they gave me a donut for making them laugh.”

As for Tombe, he plans on going into the welding industry.

“[Occupational Olympics] will help me in the future,” Tombe said.

This event was about showing off what students learned, gaining a learning experience, making new memories, and helping  the students in the near future.