Sparking life-long learning: Welding grad expands skills with Plumbing

Posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2018

When Jeff McCoy decided to get out of a job he didn’t like, and into the trades, he chose Algonquin for his training mainly because it was convenient.

Now having completed one trade program at the College and nearing completion on a second, McCoy believes he couldn’t have chosen better even if his education options had been far wider.

He is impressed by the flexibility of the instructors in his courses who readily adapt to different learning styles. “With the trades, one person is not always going to learn in the same way as the next person,” says McCoy. “I find (the Algonquin instructors) are really good in accommodating.”

“It’s hard to do (poorly) in a sense because you have peers with you and everything is broken down for you to learn. I think the professors here are fantastic at what they do.”

McCoy started at Algonquin in Welding and Fabrication Techniques, which is available as a weekend program for students who don’t have time for full-time course work. Part way through the welding program, he applied to the Plumbing (Apprenticeship) program, which requires the approval of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

He doesn’t regret his choices. “The teachers (at Algonquin) are fantastic,” McCoy says. “They … have experience in the trade … and can teach you their experience and the things they’ve learned from everybody else.

“Most of the teachers have a pretty good open-door policy as well. If you’re stuck, or can’t understand anything, they’re always welcoming — before class, after class. It ls very conducive to learning.”

Meeting with other students is also rewarding, says McCoy, who made fast friends in his first term. “You meet people from all different walks of life but are in the same trade as you.”

The course work is thorough and wide-ranging, McCoy says, and includes trade-related drafting and math, as well as hands-on techniques. “They set you up with everything you would need to advance forward, to take what you know and go farther.”

The Plumbing (Apprenticeship) program has given him a sense of the breadth of the career he’s chosen. Fellow students have had apprenticeship experiences far different from his own. “You can feed off of that. There’s so much that’s involved in plumbing and Algonquin brings that altogether so you have a good understanding of everything.”


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