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Getting hands-on experience with auto-mechanics

Less and less high school courses involve hands-on work, but there are benefits in gaining practical experience with the machines so relied on in today’s society.

MC auto mechanic’s tire supply
Photo credit | Jenna Nicholas

Junior Isaac Coulapides enjoys MC’s auto mechanics program and recognizes the course’s utilities.

“In auto mechanics you use your hands, which is important for hand-eye coordination and it also just prepares you for the future,” Coulapides said. “Instead of having to put your car in the dealership and waste money, you could do the work yourself.”

A standard day of the auto mechanics class consists of the cohesion of book work and hands-on work in the shop.

“[When we are not in the shop] we are learning about terms and how different things work,” Coulapides said.

Junior Chloe Eichel finds the knowledge and experience gained from auto mechanics applicable to real life.

“What is really cool about auto-tech is that if you drive a car or plan to drive one, you can learn the basics such as jump starting a car, checking the oil, changing the tires, and checking the brakes,” Eichel said.

One of the car’s used for auto mechanics students
Photo credit | Jenna Nicholas

Projects take up a good amount of time in auto mechanics and can strengthen teamwork and problem solving skills.

“We get assigned a car and we have a team and we work together on the car and figure out what is wrong with it,” Eichel said.

The class gives MC students a place where they can receive help for their own automotive problems.

“If a check engine light on your car turns on, you can bring it in the shop and ask the teacher for help [to fix it],” Coulapedis said.

In the long run, the auto mechanics class can provide students with valuable skills that students can take with them when they leave MC.

Written by Oskar Salminen

My name is Oskar Salminen and I am a junior at MC. I am 100% Finnish and have dual citizenship. Also, I love European cars.

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