July 12, 2023 – Collin College students earned gold and bronze medals at SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, June 23-24. This is the first year current Collin College students have participated in SkillsUSA competitions.
Lisa Dorman of McKinney took gold in photography. Winferd “Junior” Vermillion of Houston, Missouri, took bronze in collision repair technology. The two students attended the competition with their advisors, Lisa Means and Raven Hartkopf, after each earning first place finishes in the Texas competition in April.
SkillsUSA is a national organization dedicated to developing the country’s workforce through personal, workplace, and technical skills. The organization serves more than 300,000 middle school, high school, and college students annually, with 4,000 local chapters. The organization’s framework contributes to students being job-ready after graduation because participants have a better understanding of what employers look for in an employee. In addition to training opportunities, SkillsUSA provides competitions to reward students for their hard work learning their crafts.
Dorman, who is pursuing certificates in Commercial Photography, Video Production, and Animation and Game Art at Collin College, said she enjoyed the intensity of the national competition.
“It is two days of shooting and editing to produce the best images that you can within a theme,” Dorman said. “You are representing your college, department, advisor, and yourself. It is intense.”
Vermillion, who just finished his first semester in the Collision Technology program at Collin, said he spent as much time training for the competition as possible.
“Professor Hartkopf was able to facilitate a lot of extra training by industry experts prior to the competitions,” Vermillion said. “In addition to the extra training, she allowed me to come in on the days I did not have a class to train. Those extra hours were instrumental in me performing as well as I did.”
Read more about their journey in a special Q&A article with them on the Collin College News site, www.collincollegenews.com.
Collin College serves more than 57,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 200 degrees and certificates, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity, a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Construction Management, and a new Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Clinical Operations Management. The only public college based in Collin County, Collin College is a partner to business, government, and industry, providing customized training and workforce development. For more information, visit www.collin.edu.