There I was, at a community college. I had decided to pursue my automotive studies for a while because I had grown so fond of the topic while in high school (and I had proven myself to be pretty good at fixing cars by that time). I also went to the community college for a simpler reason: it was cheaper than a university. So I drove my beloved red '95 Jeep Wrangler to school and began studying in GM ASEP.
GM ASEP (General Motors Automotive Service Excellence Program) was designed to work with GM and with ASE (for those of you who don't know, ASE is the accreditation that mechanics get, and usually if a mechanic is ASE Certified, it means they know what the heck they're doing. You'll see a blue gear with the letters ASE in white on the door of most shops and dealers). You go to school for 8 weeks, then you go to work for 8 weeks at a GM dealer or shop. I was very excited. I had worked at a Cadillac/Hummer dealer as a file person during high school (don't really know the word since it's not exactly a receptionist, I just put files away), so I signed up with that dealer when it came time to be a "real mechanic". They were building a brand new Hummer dealership in another city and I was to go there as one of the first mechanics to open the shop. Totally cool.
School was fun. I was the only girl, but as in high school, I quickly became top of the class. I took my ASE certifications as I studied - there are a total of 8 basic exams to pass before you can be considered a "master technician", and usually the tests are so long you can't take more than a few at a time. Also, to get the certification, you have to prove that you worked as a mechanic for at least 2 years. That meant that by the time I graduated, I would be master certified. I also took calculus classes at night to prepare for my future transfer to the university for engineering.
By the end of the two years I had had a ton of fun and learned a lot: there were struggles at the dealership with some of the technicians (I ended up switching back to the main dealer), I had had a love life, and I passed all of my ASE exams. Now, at the end of the year there is an award given to the best student in the class. You have to have a certain GPA to be eligible, and the winner gets a scholarship in the form of a tool box and tools from one of the main tool manufacturers (aka worth a lot of money). There were only myself and one other guy who were eligible, and being the only girl, the top of the class by a long shot, and the first person in the then 33 year history of the school to be graduating as an ASE certified master mechanic, it seemed like I was a shoe in.
Two weeks before graduation I had to visit my new university for student orientation. I forgot to tell my professor that I would miss his class, so I emailed him that evening explaining my predicament. It was a 1 credit class on business management. We had to develop a pretend company and present business things like our plans, budgets, etc. My group had already presented, but the teacher made attendance mandatory as to avoid kids not coming if it wasn't their day to present (which was probably a good idea since it was Friday mornings and the only class we had on Fridays).
I went to the university as planned and was very excited to start my engineering career. I hadn't heard back from my professor, so I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I checked my schedule online (I don't even know why I was checking actually) that I noticed his class wasn't in my schedule. I thought it strange and searched everywhere but it was no where to be found. Finally, I went to grades, and next to his class there was a "W". I researched what "W" meant and found it meant "withdrawn". I froze. Completely froze. What did that mean? And why? He had basically kicked me out of the class two weeks before my graduation for attending my university's new student orientation and not coming in for 1 hour on a Friday morning to listen to a group present. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. Up until that moment I had only cried that hard on two other occasions, one of them being during my mom's first divorce.
Not knowing what to do, I started calling people. I called everyone and anyone I knew. Since I was the only girl, top of the class, and completely beyond what the school had ever seen up until that point I had many connections. I called my old professor, I called my current professors, I called the dean of the college, everyone. It was all I could think of to do. I wasn't going to go down without a fight with some teacher who was being unfair and playing a power game. This class was mandatory to graduate, and I was going to graduate.
Long story short, I was reinstated. No one could believe what the teacher did, and he was made to come to a meeting with me, my mother, and a witness to apologize. Emotionally I tried to be strong, but honestly I was so broken. I didn't know that a thing like this was possible. I couldn't attend his classes for the entire week. I would come to school and start shaking as I drove up to the lot. I would burst into tears as I came close to the door. I was a mess.
For the graduation ceremony it was a small dinner for all the automotive students, family, and friends. After all that had happened, it was the last thing I wanted to go to. My mother literally forced me to go, and I admit that we both regret going to this day. We sat with my high school teacher and his wife, whom I love as if they were my grandparents. It was awkward. The entire meal I felt sick to my stomach. At the end, when they announced the winner of the scholarship, my mother was all ready to jump up and scream, but all she did was let out a huge gasp as they announced the only other guy who was eligible as the winner. My whole table was paralyzed, and I simply got up, thanked everyone for coming to support me, and asked if we could leave. There was one dealership owner who was notorious for being a bigot toward women, and he clapped all the louder when he saw me leaving. I was glad to go. It was nice being the only woman. It was nice breaking a little more of their stereotypes. But I was done. I was tired of playing that game and I was on to bigger and better things: engineering.
GM ASEP (General Motors Automotive Service Excellence Program) was designed to work with GM and with ASE (for those of you who don't know, ASE is the accreditation that mechanics get, and usually if a mechanic is ASE Certified, it means they know what the heck they're doing. You'll see a blue gear with the letters ASE in white on the door of most shops and dealers). You go to school for 8 weeks, then you go to work for 8 weeks at a GM dealer or shop. I was very excited. I had worked at a Cadillac/Hummer dealer as a file person during high school (don't really know the word since it's not exactly a receptionist, I just put files away), so I signed up with that dealer when it came time to be a "real mechanic". They were building a brand new Hummer dealership in another city and I was to go there as one of the first mechanics to open the shop. Totally cool.
School was fun. I was the only girl, but as in high school, I quickly became top of the class. I took my ASE certifications as I studied - there are a total of 8 basic exams to pass before you can be considered a "master technician", and usually the tests are so long you can't take more than a few at a time. Also, to get the certification, you have to prove that you worked as a mechanic for at least 2 years. That meant that by the time I graduated, I would be master certified. I also took calculus classes at night to prepare for my future transfer to the university for engineering.
By the end of the two years I had had a ton of fun and learned a lot: there were struggles at the dealership with some of the technicians (I ended up switching back to the main dealer), I had had a love life, and I passed all of my ASE exams. Now, at the end of the year there is an award given to the best student in the class. You have to have a certain GPA to be eligible, and the winner gets a scholarship in the form of a tool box and tools from one of the main tool manufacturers (aka worth a lot of money). There were only myself and one other guy who were eligible, and being the only girl, the top of the class by a long shot, and the first person in the then 33 year history of the school to be graduating as an ASE certified master mechanic, it seemed like I was a shoe in.
Two weeks before graduation I had to visit my new university for student orientation. I forgot to tell my professor that I would miss his class, so I emailed him that evening explaining my predicament. It was a 1 credit class on business management. We had to develop a pretend company and present business things like our plans, budgets, etc. My group had already presented, but the teacher made attendance mandatory as to avoid kids not coming if it wasn't their day to present (which was probably a good idea since it was Friday mornings and the only class we had on Fridays).
I went to the university as planned and was very excited to start my engineering career. I hadn't heard back from my professor, so I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I checked my schedule online (I don't even know why I was checking actually) that I noticed his class wasn't in my schedule. I thought it strange and searched everywhere but it was no where to be found. Finally, I went to grades, and next to his class there was a "W". I researched what "W" meant and found it meant "withdrawn". I froze. Completely froze. What did that mean? And why? He had basically kicked me out of the class two weeks before my graduation for attending my university's new student orientation and not coming in for 1 hour on a Friday morning to listen to a group present. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. Up until that moment I had only cried that hard on two other occasions, one of them being during my mom's first divorce.
Not knowing what to do, I started calling people. I called everyone and anyone I knew. Since I was the only girl, top of the class, and completely beyond what the school had ever seen up until that point I had many connections. I called my old professor, I called my current professors, I called the dean of the college, everyone. It was all I could think of to do. I wasn't going to go down without a fight with some teacher who was being unfair and playing a power game. This class was mandatory to graduate, and I was going to graduate.
Long story short, I was reinstated. No one could believe what the teacher did, and he was made to come to a meeting with me, my mother, and a witness to apologize. Emotionally I tried to be strong, but honestly I was so broken. I didn't know that a thing like this was possible. I couldn't attend his classes for the entire week. I would come to school and start shaking as I drove up to the lot. I would burst into tears as I came close to the door. I was a mess.
For the graduation ceremony it was a small dinner for all the automotive students, family, and friends. After all that had happened, it was the last thing I wanted to go to. My mother literally forced me to go, and I admit that we both regret going to this day. We sat with my high school teacher and his wife, whom I love as if they were my grandparents. It was awkward. The entire meal I felt sick to my stomach. At the end, when they announced the winner of the scholarship, my mother was all ready to jump up and scream, but all she did was let out a huge gasp as they announced the only other guy who was eligible as the winner. My whole table was paralyzed, and I simply got up, thanked everyone for coming to support me, and asked if we could leave. There was one dealership owner who was notorious for being a bigot toward women, and he clapped all the louder when he saw me leaving. I was glad to go. It was nice being the only woman. It was nice breaking a little more of their stereotypes. But I was done. I was tired of playing that game and I was on to bigger and better things: engineering.
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