Emma Cates is no stranger to working for her dreams. When she first envisioned getting a cosmetology license and owning her own business, her plans were met with concerns from her parents and high school counselor.
Despite being accepted to a college program in her sophomore year of high school, she had been unsure of how this path would lead to her dream job. Cates did know that she had a deep interest in cosmetology. She was able to gain her parents’ support to enroll in a cosmetology program but continued to face resistance from her school counselor.
Undeterred, Cates found a new counselor, who enrolled her at Indian Capital Technology Center in Muskogee, Okla. There, the cosmetology instructor introduced Cates to SkillsUSA and asked her to consider running for national office.
Cate’s response was immediate. She told her instructor, “I want to do that because I don’t want anyone else to go through what I had to go through, and I want to let other people know that career and tech schools are just as great as college.”
Read more at: tinyurl.com/national-officers.