Now that Excel TECC rosters are set for next year, the course instructors are excited to see how students perform after meeting them during interviews.

Michael Caldwell, the Interactive Media course instructor, says what he mainly looks for is to find out if the student is willing to do creative, imaginative work for two years. He said, “Most people don’t know that answer when I talk to them in the interview, so I have a variety of questions I ask them that I try to use to help them see what their long-term goals and interests are. Determining if somebody is good enough is not really what school is always about; it’s about giving somebody an opportunity.”

Information Technology Program teacher Ron Suchy says he looks for personality, a great attitude for making good choices, and the student’s academic picture. “It’s not always the student with the best grades, it’s not always the student who is taking the most AP classes, or anything like that. Really, it comes down to who has shown that they’ve got a reasonable amount of passion and interest for being in the Information Technology Program, web design, and things like that,” he said.

Gen Gray, a sophomore preparing to be in the Interactive Media program next year, says he expected Caldwell to look for talent, effort, and passion. Gray said, “Getting into this program is a huge step into achieving my dreams, so I wanted to really sell myself to them so I’d be able to accomplish my goals for my future career.”

Gray says it was stressful to interview, but with help from others, he was able to be successful. “I talked it over with some peers and really tried my hardest to push through my worries, and I spent a while compiling my portfolio with my mom and a few others documenting some of my best works at the time,” he said.

Caldwell says that it’s usually pretty clear who is getting accepted to him. “People who are easy to tell come in with this massive portfolio and are already excited when you’re saying ‘It’s gonna be a lot of hard work,’ and they’re like ‘I can’t wait!’”

Suchy says that each year classes are getting stronger and stronger while preparing for their careers. He said, “We’re training students to prepare for success in the classroom, but also for success in the workplace. Our students graduate both career and college-ready.”