On Friday, March 1, Chattanooga State Community College welcomed distinguished guests to the unveiling of its new Advanced Manufacturing Center (TCAT 5). Attendees included College President Dr. Rebecca Ashford, Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Dr. Flora Tydings, Senator Bo Watson, TCAT & EWD Vice President Bo Drake, and several students. Among those students was John Jordan, who is studying to become a Computer Support Technician. Jordan delivered the following remarks during the grand opening.

To begin, I would like to thank everyone present for attending this ceremony. Thank you to the Chattanooga State administration for making this event possible, and for giving me a platform to share my experiences as a student. I am grateful my classmates and I have been given the opportunity to enhance our learning experience through the space provided to us in our new classroom. One of the biggest advantages of this space is the ability to run our community service project, Tiger Tech. This allows us to give back to the campus community while also providing our students with the ability to practice live work and hone our skills as computer repair technicians. This experience provides us with the skills we need to be successful in our endeavors, and better prepares us to enter the workforce as productive and capable workers, which is the core goal of technical education. The mission of Chattanooga State, as well, is to empower every student to learn without limits, and this idea is ingrained in every program that Chattanooga State and TCAT have to offer.

This new building that was generously made available to us has dramatically improved our ability to learn and develop the skills we need to succeed in our endeavors. One of the challenges we faced with our previous classroom was a significant limitation on the space we had to complete our work, especially our live work through Tiger Tech. We were also limited in the number of students that could enroll in the program. Having the goal of expanding the program in mind, we are now able to provide opportunities for more students than ever before. We now have the space to set up a functioning repair shop which has spearheaded our efforts to restart Tiger Tech. We also have the space we need to complete our hands-on labs without having to waste so much time setting up and tearing down for the next group to complete their labs. We now have the advantage of setting up multiple labs at each workstation, which saves us time in preparing for the lab and lightens the workload between both students and our instructors. The comparison between our previous learning environment and the space we have now is without parallel. The contrast between the two is like night and day, and we could not be more grateful for the opportunities this building has provided our class.

Further, having had the opportunity to restart our service project, we have finally been able to advertise this service to the entire student body, as well as faculty and staff members. We hope to use this space efficiently to gain as much hands-on experience as possible, providing every student with the chance to solve real-world problems and to practice customer service skills. We have even been provided with a drop-off window that allows students a convenient location to find us and to receive support when they need it. The ability to provide this service has empowered my fellow students and me to tackle complex issues and resolve them to the customer's satisfaction. This has been crucial to my growth as an individual, as my active participation in this program has greatly improved my confidence and self-esteem. Before enrolling, I was incredibly introverted and lacked the self-confidence to be a true leader. I and so many other students have had the chance to step up and lead the class in our service project, and through my journey as a student, I have learned to become self-motivated, perseverant, and dependable.

Finally, I would like to extend immense gratitude to everyone who made this building possible. Without it, my classmates and I would continue to face the challenges that arose from the constraints of our previous environment. Having what we have now has made all the difference in our ability to pursue our goals 'of becoming involved in the I.T. field and developing critical thinking skills and interpersonal skills. I would like to also thank my instructors, Mr. Mercer and Mr. Weeks, without whom this class would simply not be possible. Their dedication to their students is unmatched. They are truly passionate about the work that they do, and they certainly deserve to be recognized for their efforts. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the generosity of my elected officials who made this project possible, as well. Thank you for truly bestowing a wonderful gift to this campus and allowing us to have such an amazing space in which to learn and grow. Finally, I would like to thank each student for their efforts in class in serving the campus community. Without the student body, as well as the fierce support of the college's administration, none of this would be possible.