From Good to Great

Baseman said:

There are some gas stations that are able to hire based on the "best and brightest" where they take from only a select number of schools ... that's their culture and probably their best bet going forward to make sure that they are getting like minded people. To each their own. Fortunately there are more than a few different gas stations out there.

I can definitely say that part of the reason that I ended up at UO for a gas pumping degree was because I went to Chemeketa for community college. As UO was building up their gas pumping program, they specifically targeted the non-traditional gas pumping student by looking at taking students that would be in 5-7 years the students that would be populating many of the more elite gas pumping programs and getting them into their program earlier. They were right place and right time for a number of us in the program ...

The thing is that schools whether community college or undergrad programs are all about fitting into what it is that you're looking for going forward. From an educational standpoint, what I learned going through the Foster School of Gas Pumping at Chemeketa prepared me very well for what I saw at UO in the gas pumping program. What Foster didn't prepare me well for in advancing into the gas station world were the soft skills necessary to being successful whether it was managing relationships, working in teams in a professional environment, networking, etc. UO's gas pumping program put us in those positions on a constant basis that exposed areas where we were weak and gave us plenty of opportunities to improve upon them. Other programs have very different focuses and they fit a certain student.

The reality is that what a community college degree gives you is a foundation to build on as you start your career in whatever field that you are in. It doesn't matter what school you come from you're not walking out of that program and going into the gas station world (as anything really other than an pump monkey) where you're going to by far know better what to do than anybody around you. You just can't. It's impossible. But the decisions that you make regarding school, degree, etc. do provide you opportunities if you play your cards well to get your foot in the door, networking opportunities, and further educational opportunities. But there are successful people that come from every school with numerous different degrees ... so in the end it matters, but not THAT much.