It can be nervewracking to be on the national stage but one College of New Caledonia (CNC) student isn't sweating it too much.
Dustin Cathcart is an apprentice at CNC's Quesnel campus, specifically in the Industry Mechanic Millwright category.
He won gold in Abbotsford in the millwright competition in the Skills Canada B.C. event in April of this year.
With the win, he qualified for the 25th annual Skills Canada National Competition in Halifax from May 28 to 29.
It's a tough challenge as he will be competing against nine other top apprentices from across the country, and he's the only one from B.C. in the category.
“I’ll do the best that I can,“ Cathcart says in a news release. “You shoot for the sky and hope to hit the clouds. If I happen to win while doing that, then that’s cool too.”
When in Abbotsford for the Skills Canada B.C. competition, Cathcart was tasked to take apart, put back together, align a speed reducer, and complete an alignment job that involved connecting an electric motor and pump, although it wasn't something he was 100 per cent familiar with.
“There were lots of challenges with alignment and new machinery,” CNC Quesnel millwright instructor Sergio Jorquera adds in the release. “But Dustin handled it well. He has that flexibility and demeanor to face the challenges a millwright experiences in the field.”
He started at CNC as a dual credit student, during his senior year of high school last year.
He then went on to complete the Industrial Mechanic Millwright/Machinist foundation program.
He would start working in the industry once he completed the program and has returned to the Quesnel campus this past spring to finish the Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) Level 2 program.
The Skills National Competition sees more than 550 competitors each year in more than 40 skills and technology competitions.
