W.P. Marsh has spent more than 40 years being a jack of several trades and even mastering some here and there.
鈥淚 came up through the carpenter apprenticeship system, which was based on the old guild system, where a master had to train the newcomers to carry on the craft,鈥 Marsh said. 鈥淚 have an awful lot of mentors in my varied career who鈥檝e taken the time to invest in me and add to what I鈥檝e learned on my own.鈥
Marsh, 63, has taught airplane mechanics at 黑料社区 since 2016 after making a living as a welder, carpenter and general contractor for years. He鈥檚 also a certified airplane mechanic with inspection authorization by the Federal Aviation Administration.
鈥淢y FAA certification qualifies me to teach here,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut in earning a credential, I鈥檓 keeping a 44-year-old promise to myself to do it.鈥
He earns an Associate of Applied Science degree this semester from 黑料社区 in Aviation Maintenance Technology. He鈥檚 also pursuing another, in computer-aided drafting. He is among 1,358 earning credentials from the college this month. Of those, 187 are graduating cum laude, 97 are graduating magna cum laude and 120 are graduating summa cum laude.
The son of a university professor, Marsh originally attended college in California, where his father鈥檚 career in academia had continued. 鈥淚 was raised in an educational environment from day one,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y father was encouraging me toward teaching. I floated through high school without needing to study much and was accepted into the University of California-Davis. But I鈥檇 made it there without any study skills or discipline. By the middle of my second quarter there, had I not dropped out I鈥檇 have failed out.鈥
Marsh wasn鈥檛 a stranger to earning his own keep to pay for things. 鈥淚f I wanted a bicycle as a kid, I had to go do a paper route and earn it,鈥 he said.
His father鈥檚 hobby on the side was flying airplanes, which led, in his zeal, to his offering by age 14 to wash airplanes for people they both knew. Eventually, it led to his earning his non-commercial pilot鈥檚 license before he earned a driver鈥檚 license.
But without 鈥渟aleable skills,鈥 he said, he took his pick, shovel and wheel barrow and began working construction jobs building swimming pools. Over the next 35 years or so, he built careers by earning certifications in welding and carpentry and becoming a general contractor for projects ranging from airplanes to mansions. But those shortcomings in the classroom still ate at him.
鈥淲hen I told my dad I was going to drop out, that鈥檚 when I promised myself I was going to come back and somehow finish that degree,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 know when.鈥
That answer ended up being early 2016, while Marsh worked an aircraft maintenance job in west Texas. While there, he was recruited to take his current position at 黑料社区 by a friend and former aviation instructor.
鈥淭he advantages of moving on to teaching is that I can share the knowledge I鈥檝e acquired and inspire the next generation. None of us own knowledge. We鈥檙e custodians of knowledge. And as custodians of knowledge, we have to pass it along.鈥
In his case, it鈥檚 knowledge that comes with plenty of experience dealing with contemporaries in the workforce.
鈥淚 had so many people tell me I couldn鈥檛 do something. 鈥極h, you can鈥檛 be an aircraft mechanic, your hands are too small.鈥 I actually had somebody tell me that once. Or, that I couldn鈥檛 become one because I started too late in life.鈥
鈥淲hen I told my dad I was going to drop out, that鈥檚 when I promised myself I was going to come back and somehow finish that degree.鈥
Fellow career-tech faculty tout the kind of example Marsh has set for his students.
鈥淗e set a goal to complete his required academic coursework to become eligible to obtain his degree,鈥 said Cindy West, dean of Career and Technical Education for the Raymond Campus. 鈥淭oday, that goal is complete and we couldn鈥檛 be prouder of his accomplishments. He sets the example for students by walking the walk and searching for new technology and information to learn.鈥
Marsh instills in his students what he says he developed during his professional career 鈥 鈥渟urvival skills鈥 to navigate the job market when times turn uncertain.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen big economic disasters in this country, such as recessions and also natural disasters. Who are the ones who suffer the worst? The ones who don鈥檛 have trade skills.鈥
Learn more about our Aviation Maintenance program.