When Mason Davis left the military, he was searching for a career that made people happy and kept him interested. He found it studying to become an electrician technician at UEI College in Phoenix.
Finding a career path was not a straight line for Mason.
At the age of 17, he joined the military and became a medic. After several deployments treating trauma patients, Mason didn’t see himself in the medical field long-term.
“It was really heartbreaking,” he said. “I wanted to do something that makes people happy, where people want to see you. When you go to the ER, you’re not exactly in the best mood. I thought what would make people happy? When are they excited to see you? I thought going to culinary school would be that. Not only do people look forward to going out to try new food or something they have learned to love but they make plans for it. Special occasions are based around it. It’s a big deal.”
Mason attended a culinary institute and began working in restaurants, but he quickly discovered that career was not a fit either.
“It was fun for a while but the problem was how tedious it was,” he said. “I worked at a few different restaurants and you’re not able to show a lot of creativity or change the menu up right off the bat. It takes years to work up to that. Each station was important and good but the tediousness of it got to me. I didn’t want to do it every day. I wanted to switch.”
Through a lot of research, Mason was led to electrical work.
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“It’s not how I thought when I was younger, that you’re an electrician and you do all the electrical stuff,” he said. “You can specialize like a nurse would. You have to have some creativity because it’s about finding efficiency and not only saving money but to get the job done as well. It’s also just science and math with it which is really exciting. It goes on and on for different specialties and I like that a lot.”
After a quick tour of UEI College in Phoenix, Mason knew he had found the school to make this dream a reality. When the timing was right, he got to work.
“I couldn’t speak any higher of the instructors that I’ve met with and worked with,” he said. “Not only do they help with homework or discussion boards but they actually go out of their way. I can call them even after school hours and they will answer and try to help with whatever you are doing. That’s something I was really impressed with.”
Just a few months into the program, UEI’s Career Services department helped Mason develop a resume, which he shared at a career fair held on campus. The next day, he got a job offer.
“It felt great, especially since I had no electrical experience outside of UEI,” he said.
Now only half way through the program, Mason is gaining real-life experience while still working on his certificate in the classroom.
“I feel like there is a level of respect for electricians,” he said. “People understand the danger and the dedication it takes to be good at it. Besides that I have the freedom and ability to be creative and constantly challenged to find better ways and better ideas to try to create the best outcome for the consumers and owners of the building. It’s been a lot of fun. Even small tips and tricks can save hundreds of dollars and they are all things I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t sit through those classes with my instructors. All I see is it will continue to get better. As I get more experience and closer to graduating it will just get easier to obtain better positions and keep moving up in the world.”
In some ways the future is still unclear for Mason. His family may relocate in the future and he’s unsure which specialty he would like to explore more. Regardless he feels confident he has good training and good support from UEI to fall back on.
“It’s nice to know I have somewhere to go back to for help if I need it,” he said.
