Winning Essays From Recent Realigning America Scholarship Entries

VibrAlign awarded three scholarships this quarter to industrial technology students from Texas State Technical College, Chattanooga State Community College and Southwestern Illinois College. Below are excerpts from the winning essays.

	“The Army is where I learned that machine maintenance is key to everyday life. One of my favorite sayings has always been “If you don’t take care of your equipment, your equipment will not take care of you.” This phrase has held true to this day for a reason, nothing works unless you do. Some work is and always will be harder than others, that’s just the nature of the beast.” Kyle Everett, TSTC
	“My motor shaft alignment was off by a fraction of an inch. I took shims and used some math and repeatedly measured with the dial indicator until I was satisfied that the shaft alignment was within a tolerated margin. On that day I learned how important knowledge of how a dial indicator worked in relation to finding an acceptable shaft alignment. The dial indicator gave me information that my naked eye could not see. The dial indicator can be used for calibrating machinery, centering metal lathes, and ensuring accuracy in a manufacturing process. The measurement increments on a dial indicator are so small that they measure in .001-inch increments over a range of one inch. It is a remarkable tool that I learned every machinery maintenance person needs.” Laura Horesovsky, Chattanooga State
	I enrolled into the maintenance program while I was finishing up my machining degree. All of the other students in the maintenance program knew what they were doing and here I am not having a clue. I was way out of my comfort zone. From electricity to motors to welding, I would stay late the first few days trying to understand it all. I couldn’t think of it like everyone else, I had to think of it like how a machinist would. I had to break it down to each part, understand its purpose and how it fit together. The same went for electricity, for each wire it would have a different purpose like an endmill or drill. You can’t use a drill to mill a part just like you can’t connect a ground wire to a hot wire, it won’t end well for you or the machine.” Amy Robinson, Southwestern Illinois College

The next deadline to enter for a Realigning America scholarship is December 31st. To learn more go to http://acoem.us/resources/scholarships/.

Information about the colleges can be accessed online at www.chattanoogastate.edu, www.swic.edu, and www.tstc.edu.