Several students receive instruction from a professor in a college classroom.

Exciting news for members of the ATE community: the second series of ATE Student Success Stories are now available to view! These videos are being created collaboratively by ATE Central and Vox Television, a Boston-based media company.

As a reminder, the ATE Student Success Stories are a video series that highlight the struggles and triumphs of a diverse set of students in community and technical college STEM programs. The videos show how the support and guidance of ATE centers and projects has helped students change their lives and careers for the better. Each video documents a unique story, but all share the common theme of demonstrating how technician education has the power to change lives. This second series will ultimately create fifteen new videos which will be made freely available through the ATE Central website. 

In the first four videos of Series Two, viewers will meet five new students whose career trajectories have been changed through ATE programs: Amanda, Danial, James and Mikhail, and Paula. 

Amanda: As the child of a programmer, Amanda was introduced to coding very early. She knew she wanted to use technology to make changes in the world. At the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, she gained the skills and confidence she needed to do just that, and earn an internship with Microsoft.

Danial: Danial had been pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Biology, but classes were never as exciting as he’d hoped, craving a more hands-on and personal experience. It was pure coincidence that brought he and Del Mar College’s biotechnology program together, but it changed his life in ways he couldn’t have imagined.

James and Mikhail: Brothers James and Mikhail were both seeking something new when their mother recommended the engineering program at Cuesta College. Twenty years later, James and Mikhail revisit campus and their instructors, and discuss how the program helped them each find their place and their passion.

Paula: Paula struggled to find a subject that interested her, and was unsure about taking on debt to attend a large university to study something she didn’t have passion for. But through her college’s nanotechnology program, Paula was introduced to a field of research that finally gave her a sense of wonder and excitement.

Each video can be viewed in a browser or downloaded, and captions are available. There are also screenshots and prepared social media clips that would be perfect to use in your own outreach efforts. While on that page, you can also check out the first series of ATE Student Success Stories.