was a Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) military police officer for five years, and when the time came to transition out of the military, her main goal was to be able to find a viable career that would offer her the opportunity to stay in the Seattle, WA, area. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, but during her time at Fort Lewis, she fell in love with Washington State, and her mom had recently moved there. Her husband, who was transitioning out of the Army at the same time, was from Seattle, and he wanted to remain in the area as well. As avid hikers, campers, and rock climbers, they found that Washington State’s vast wilderness had everything to offer them, and in ad- dition, her husband had earned a spot at a local commercial dive school. Originally, Sam felt that she would be interested in pursuing a career in some type of first responder capacity. She soon realized that, with the cost of liv- ing in the Seattle, WA, area so high, she would have to take on a second job to make ends meet. She said, “I didn’t want to be behind a desk or in a cubicle. I knew I would have to be doing something with my hands, and that I would have to be interacting with others. I knew I would need a job that was physically demanding to be happy. I also needed a job that would pay well.” On one of Sam’s visits to the Stone Education Center at JBLM, she met Dave Gibson, who was the HVACR (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration) United Association (UA) Veter- ans in Piping® (VIP®) program’s lead instructor. Sam said, “He gave me a very brief orientation about the program, and he even talked to us about the other VIP programs that were offered through the UA. He spoke about quite a few options. He just really wanted us to look into the trades. When learning about the programs, I liked the description of the HVACR program. I wanted something a little more intricate, something that would require some brain power, so I went with the HVACR VIP program.” She continued, “I interviewed and was accepted. Dave was such a good teacher. He would take us through the book stuff but then incorporate exam- ples from the field. He would walk us through a process first, and then we would walk ourselves through that same process. If we ended up making a mistake, he would let us make that mistake, because you always learned from those mistakes. If anyone goes through that class and fails it, or doesn’t do well, it’s their own fault, because Dave gives you all the material you need to learn and understand what you’re doing, and he is really a genuine and down-to-earth guy. He made it clear that, if we didn’t understand a concept he was happy to walk us through it again. He viewed us all as his future. Everyone in our class helped one another. ere was great comradery. When we gradu- ated, I was nominated to give the class speech. at was kind of emo- tional for me.” When it came time to be as- signed to a UA local union to con- tinue on with the apprenticeship program, Sam was disappointed to hear that the HVACR service technician program in Seattle at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 32 had already begun. She was, how- ever, offered a spot in the pipefit- ter’s apprenticeship class, and she seized the opportunity because staying in Seattle was her top priority. Today, Sam is a third-year pipefitter apprentice, and she ab- solutely loves her job! She said, “In the end, I think this is the better career choice for me. I have found that I really relish the time in the field with other craspeople. I love working side-by-side with people from all of the construction trades to accomplish a task. Our brains are collaborating, and it’s always Samantha “Sam” Metcalf CAREERops 12 Changing an Initial VIP Career Path