SALT LAKE CITY — High school and college graduations are going on all over Utah this week. However, there was a very different commencement ceremony involving students who had recently completed the Salt Lake Community College lineman course.
Folks who climb power poles to ensure your electricity stays on. They are matriculating from the Salt Lake Community College Energy, Utility, and Licensing program. The official name of the course is for those who are now on their way to becoming power pole linemen.
The courses are taught by instructors like Rhett Bigelow. “These guys serve an essential function in the community," he explained. "They work to make sure that we have power, and power is the one thing that drives our society. So without them, we’d be lost.”
Graduates like Mitch Anderson show off their newfound skills during this commencement ceremony. Anderson says he was looking for a new challenge after leaving the Marine Corps. “Even if you’re not scared of heights, there’s a little bit of fear. You’ll get up to the top on a bare pole, there’s nothing on it, no wires, nothing. Those things start swaying back-and-forth up there, you get a little worried, but it goes away, pretty quickly…usually.”
Just 18 years old, Kayden Neil is the youngest graduate in this class. “It’s an unreal opportunity to be able to be here, being the youngest kid here, it’s been fun.”
Neil is a recent high school grad who decided to fast-track his career while he was still a teenager. “A very random decision that I had. One day I was sitting in class and I was like; You know, desk work ain’t for me. I want to do something fun. And I started looking around and found this, and here I am.”
It’s physically challenging, and dealing with electricity can be dangerous. That’s where the course instructors like Rhett Bigelow come in, “So we teach them the basics of safety and the basics of how it works. And then we teach them how to do it fast so they can get your power on fast!”
Following this graduation ceremony and friendly competition, most of these folks will now begin a four year apprenticeship at cities and municipalities throughout the state.
