Cole Ulrich – Automotive Co-Op

My name is Cole Ulrich, I am a senior at Garden Spot High School, and I am in the co-op program. I started the year as a Team Member at Tommy Express Car Wash. There I had a lot of hands-on experience working with the car wash. While I gained work experience there, I was ready for something more professional. Halfway through the semester, I switched jobs and now have the honor of working for Superior Paint and Collision. This has given me the chance to get a step ahead of most kids and find the career I want to stick with for the rest of my life.

I am a detailer at Superior Paint and Collision. My duties are to detail cars. Often I get to learn how to do some body shop work which is what I really want to learn to do. I am still learning how to do this, but in the meantime, I am learning buffing, touch-up, and the process of how an auto body shop runs.

I am glad I did co-op because I get paid to go to school. I don’t think of work as work. I think of it as school, only a better version of it, where I get to learn about things I want to do. I not only learned about auto body work, I am learning to problem solve and to be creative. I am also learning a lot in the classroom that will help me when I’m an adult. I am looking forward to my career and I am glad I was able to get started on it my senior year in the co-op program.