High school, a time of growing, learning and answering the question “What are you going to do with the rest of your life?” You come upon that big day--graduation--and now you are supposed to know what direction you are going to take to ensure you will be productive, successful and enjoy the next steps in your life. How many people can say that they had it all worked out by high school graduation and had taken steps necessary to make that happen?
For Donald Fries, that day was May 31, 2017, graduation day. Luckily, Donald had already made some decisions regarding what he was going to do next. On September 22, 2016, he joined his Merced Union High School District classmates in a class taught by Kahri Boykin, Green Technology and Energy Conservations Instructor, at his first solar installation with GRID Alternatives. Since that first day, he has participated in six solar installations, installing 21 kilowatts of electricity and helping to prevent 417 tons of greenhouse gases. Amazing as this is, he is also the first participant in our Solar Futures program to achieve a milestone of over 100 volunteer hours in the Central Valley.
Donald says his favorite part of volunteering is the job experience that he is getting, but he also likes getting out of school to have fun! He feels like he has grown a lot since he started with GRID and that the most valuable skill he's learned is teamwork. He is planning to attend Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Sacramento and work in the solar industry while he is attending school. In summing up his experience in one word, he said that it has been “fun!"
There may be many more twists and turns in his future career, but if solar installation is his calling, the sun will be out there waiting for him to shine.
Special thanks to SunPower for its support of our Solar Futures program!