was the youngest of four children. Both my mother and elderly uncle who lived with us, taught me the hands-on things. It was a real close-knit family and everybody looked out for everybody else.

Doing things right the first time was just always taught to me. It came from the whole environment that I grew up in. I just carried this on to the job with me. I can’t really change myself from when I punch in at 7 o’clock in the morning and all of a sudden I’m a different person. I think it’s just a total way of life. I try to be as moral a person as possible, and that carries over to work. I’m trying to live without regret.

I want to do my best, and if I am doing my best, I might as well do it the first time rather than numerous times. There’s also nothing wrong with doing it numerous times til you get it right, cause that’s how you learn. You learn from doing it once or twice, but you strive to get it the first time. Each day is its own completion. I just strive to get to that point and be satisfied with it at the end of the day.

It’s a constant battle. It makes you a better person. I’ve got my daily struggles and work through them, and hopefully at the end of the day I have a sense of accomplishment. Some days you don’t. Some days I have to settle for a little bit lower than what I’d like. And then hopefully the next day I start at that point and continue on. I have to have an open mind and say that—I’m always gonna be learning something.

Then all the sudden I drive past someplace I worked in. I remember the good and the bad things, the challenges and the accomplishments. It’s one more thing on the list of accomplishments. I get a feeling of happiness, the general good feeling of getting something done.

Stories from the Field