Sowela’s TC Energy Academy offers chance for fresh start
Published 10:36 am Friday, October 29, 2021
- (Special to the American Press)
It’s never too late to start over and make dreams come true. Such is the case for Tiffany Ozane, who over the course of a year went from a job in retail to a job on the pipelines with the potential to travel the world.
After viewing a commercial for Sowela Technical Community College’s TC Energy Pipeline Academy, Ozane said she decided it was time to make a change. “I wanted to do something different. I’m an outdoors person and I said, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to try this.’ ”
Ozane, a mother and grandmother, said initially no one really believed she’d go through with it. A scholarship from the college was the perfect motivation to get her started and in August she began the 10-week course.
She began the class with plenty of intrinsic motivation, she said. “I said in the beginning, not knowing, to build myself up, ‘I’m going to be in the top of my class.’ ”
Her positivity proved true when she was selected by the Rosen-Group for a full-time job upon course completion. “I was the first one out of the class to get the job.”
A strong desire to achieve and learn helped Ozane along the journey, she said.
“I’m really interested in learning different things in life. My dad owned a construction company. So working with the different tools and learning something new is something I really enjoy.”
Over the course of the 10 weeks, Ozane said the course covered everything from OSHA safety, power tools, regular tools and the ins and outs of the pipeline. “It was really hands-on and did have book work. And you really had to put in the work with the books to get the full understanding.”
Ozane recently started her new career with the Rosen-Group as a field technician. The company offered her a moving incentive, a handsome salary and the chance to see the world.
Reflecting on her life a year ago, navigating the pandemic in her retail job at Walmart, Ozane said she “never expected” her life to take such a turn.
“I just pictured myself staying at Walmart and moving up. I loved my job there, but it started to feel like a dead end, and I knew I had more potential to give. I had the potential to do anything I wanted to do.”
Ozane’s story is just one example of the many opportunities available to hard workers willing to make the sacrifice of training, Mitchell Heuring, TC Energy Pipeline Academy instructor, said.
“It’s definitely a life sacrifice — to take 10 weeks off, come in here, work hard for 40 hours a week and get your life going in a new direction.”
The sacrifice is “worth it,” he said because there are more jobs in the field than people trained and available to fill them.
“There’s plenty of work to be found because we are such a broad program. The companies just want hard-working people. What we hear is ‘Coming to class is half the battle.’ Just being here and applying yourself earns a lot of respect.”
Sowela is currently enrolling for its next 10-week course in the TC Energy Pipeline Academy.
Registration is open on a first-come, first-serve basis. A limited number of training seats are available.
For more information or to enroll, visit www.sowela.edu/
