Steven Lutz is in a good place. Five years after earning his associate degree from SFCC he’s landed his dream job and just got his first promotion.
Although he originally planned to get a bachelor’s degree, Lutz graduated in 2011 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Aided Drafting (now Engineering Design Technology) and headed straight into the workforce. Today he’s an Electrical Drafting Technician in Transmissions and Distribution Services at Burns & McDonnell, an international engineering, architecture and consulting firm based in Kansas City.
“My instructor Kevin Haulotte was really good about showing us all the real-world opportunities for CAD—all the different companies you could work for and all the different fields you could work in,” says Steven. “I wasn’t really keen on hitting the books for another two or four years, and I felt I had the foundation I needed to keep going and keep learning on the job. It just made sense for me.”
Steven had always been interested in drawing and design, and it was a drafting class in high school that got him interested in it as a career. “I saw that it was a way I could apply my artistic abilities in something I could actually work and make a living at,” he says.
He also is happy that he qualified for the Missouri A+ program while in high school because that meant that he could attend SFCC tuition free. The state-funded program pays tuition at community and technical colleges for eligible students, and about 500 SFCC students take advantage of it each year.
“It was a huge blessing to be able to start in a really good job with no debt,” he says.
He definitely recommends A+ for others. “Education is a huge part of your career and your life,” he says. “If you can make it easier and get off to a really great start, without breaking your bank account, you should take advantage of that.”
