[Music]
When I started at Inver Hills,
I'd been out of the air force for about eleven years.
Um..
You know,
I'd bounced around odd jobs.
I never really capitalized on my military experience,
in that it was tough to relate to civilian employers.
So,
what I mostly ended up doing was security.
And for me, that wasn't enough.
I chose Inver Hills because it has a spectacular
veteran services program.
It's,
you know,
top five in the country, I believe,
for veterans
in terms of retention and support
and that's what really drew me to it.
You know,
I'm a single father of three kids.
It's always a challenge to do anything
when you're in that situation,
but I was able to make my schedule work
around their schedule, essentially.
I was just able to comfortably step
right into campus
and feel welcomed and relaxed
and like I was making progress in my life.
[Music]
The most valuable thing I got from Inver
was that this place is built for transfer credits.
I mean, it's so much more affordable to go here
than to start to go to a four-year all the way.
And you get more, like, one-on-one attention.
All the teachers here are great.
Joan Carter stands out.
I've never had an instructor that was more
passionate and invested in her students.
David Riggs,
who is a history teacher in my first class here,
he's a phenomenal, entertaining teacher.
They're not spread as thin,
smaller class sizes,
and it's more affordable
and because of that,
you're not just a number here.
[Music]
So, I started Zelm Aerospace
just as another challenge to see what I was capable of.
I'm focused on agriculture, or precision ag-analysis.
So, I do mapping, surveying, insurance inspections,
and we're moving into the cell phone tower
and wind turban inspection phase.
[Music]
What a master in aeronautics would do is,
you know,
I'd be on the cutting edge of a brand new industry.
Essentially, you know,
becoming an expert at the beginning.
The things I learned in the military
and the things I learned at Inver Hills
combined
will make me more employable
or more credible as a business owner.
[Music]
