Nourishing interest in automotive industry

Editor's note: This is one of a continuing series of stories written by Clinton High School seniors about their Senior Project internships.

Senior Project wasn’t a class that was originally on my radar and, honestly, if a friend hadn’t recommended it, I would not have taken it. I am kind of glad I decided to take the class because the lessons I’m learning and the experiences I’m acquiring from my internship are helping me develop my future.

For my future, I was thinking I would be in the automotive industry; I’ve had a love of vehicles ever since I was really young and it has grown over the years. I’ve always dreamed of working on cars and maybe one day building a beast of my own that will turn heads. I also want to be able to help others with their vehicle troubles.

My internship is at the Sunoco Station in Lancaster, also referred to as Main Street Auto. My hosts are Tony and Hieem, the two mechanics who have worked on vehicles themselves almost all of their lives. “We are not lucky, we are blessed” is a quote from Hieem that has randomly stuck with me; I catch myself thinking of it every once and a while and I’m not even sure why. Maybe it could be that I’m blessed to be working with my hosts.

Participating in this internship has set my career choice in stone; automotive technology is something I plan to continue doing whether it’s as a career or just a hobby. Once I’ve completed my senior year of high school and moved on from my internship, I will continue to grow my knowledge in the automotive field through my college courses and my experiences while working later in life.

I would like to sincerely thank my internship hosts for their hard work and efforts in teaching me about their field of work and what it takes to be proficient while also taking care of their customers. I would like to thank them for sharing their experiences with me and passing on some of their knowledge. Another thanks goes to Ahmad Mekkaoui, owner of the Sunoco Station, for allowing me this opportunity.