VGCC Student Found New Career, made contributions to college

Herbert Burton of Henderson is scheduled to graduate from Vance-Granville Community College on August 8 with an Industrial Systems Technology diploma. Like many of his fellow graduates, he is already employed and using the skills he has learned at the college.This will be his second Vance-Granville diploma. He previously completed the college’s Electrical/Electronics program. In the fall of 2006, for career purposes, Burton decided that he needed to take the Hydraulics/Pneumatics course at VGCC, which is offered as part of the Industrial Systems Technology program. As it turned out, he had just missed it: the class was not offered that fall. That disappointment turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as IST program head/instructor Robert Hudson then was able to tell him about what else the curriculum program had to offer. “I’d never been involved in a machine shop, so he showed me around, and told me that the program includes a little welding, blueprint reading, and electrical,” Burton recalled. “I gave it a try and ended up changing my whole career path.” Now, Burton’s skills extend beyond electrical installation to include maintenance and mechanical processes.Burton was motivated to succeed because of Hudson’s hands-on instruction. “I had no knowledge whatsoever of most of the machinery at first,” Burton said. “Robert was encouraging when I made mistakes, and he makes it easy to do things you didn’t think you could do.” Burton was enjoying himself so much that he started staying late after class, and Hudson had to make him go home. Burton said that coming to school helped keep his focus away from anything negative going on outside of class, including being seriously injured as the victim of a 2006 car-jacking.Earlier this year, Burton started working as a maintenance mechanic for Elberta Crate and Box Company in Warrenton. His new employer was willing to accommodate his college class schedule. On the job, Burton uses the skills he has learned at Vance-Granville, including “patience and trouble-shooting a problem from beginning to end,” he said. He also learned about safety and performing measurements with specific tools.VGCC has made a big difference to Burton, but Hudson said that Burton had also been good for VGCC. He has encouraged newer students, who often believe that he must have been doing such work for years. Burton and his fellow students have helped out other VGCC programs, including repairing a machine for the Welding program and building a security rack for Basic Law Enforcement Training. He has also accompanied Hudson to Eaton-Johnson Middle School in Henderson to inform future college students about the IST program. “The effect Herbert has on the students in undeniable,” Hudson said. “I could see the students’ ears perk up when he began to talk. He is an excellent ambassador for VGCC.”Burton’s most unique contribution came after a freak power outage damaged a vertical mill in Hudson’s IST machine shop. The company that had manufactured the machine had gone out of business, and Hudson had to order a new component. “Herbert figured out how the old system worked and how to integrate it with the new system, did the programming, everything,” Hudson recalled. “I was just amazed — and he did it himself, I was only his assistant,” the instructor added.IST (formerly known as “Industrial Maintenance”) students are exposed to an all-encompassing one-year curriculum that includes welding, air conditioning, electrical and mechanical systems. The curriculum is designed to prepare or up-grade individuals to service, maintain, repair, or install equipment for a wide range of industries. For information about registering in the IST program, call vocational counselor Herbert Washington at (252) 738-3228. Registration for the fall semester ends Aug. 13.Above: Herbert Burton, a VGCC student from Henderson, works with a vertical mill in the machine shop at the college’s main campus. He repaired a similar machine in the shop that had been damaged by a power outage. (VGCC Photo)