Like many teenagers, Sam Ladson hasn’t decided what he wants to do with the rest of his life. This Bedford County Technical Center Bedford High School student is completing his senior year in the BCTC auto-diesel curriculum. “I always had an interest in cars. If it broke, I wanted to fix it. I was good with my hands.” He also loves the farm - a 600 acre dairy farm near Centerville where he helps his parents. And at this point, he’s unsure whether helping milk 110 cows and growing crops will fit in with a career off the farm. “I may go back to the farm; I’ll probably try to combine both professions. We’ll have to see what feels right.”

In the meantime, Sam is getting good experience on the job through the Tech Center’s cooperative education program - working at Baker’s Body Center north of Bedford. He has been on the job since June and will continue until he graduates next June, working about 14 hours a week. “I do some mechanical repairs - work on brakes, alignments. I tear down wrecked cars and help with reassembly. And because I’m the new guy, I get the clean-up duty in the shop. This is certainly a good field - there will always be people who will wreck their cars and need to have them repaired.” In addition to working - both in his job and on the farm - and going to his high school classes, Sam is also taking post-secondary classes in the evenings - he recently finished his state inspection class, passed the written exam and will soon take his hands-on exam.
Sam said this senior year of high school is geared toward giving him a head-start in a career and life, and his coop program has been critical to that goal. “I like getting a paycheck,” he said. “But more than that, I get to meet a lot of new people; learn new skills and work in the industry - get my foot in the door with a good base of knowledge. If I go to interview for a job in the future, I know I’ll be better qualified than the next guy without that experience.”

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