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Nathan Middleton participated in SkillsUSA while he was in high school. He competed in welding, which he found an interest in at his after-school job in Alliance. Little did he know he would go on to compete on the national stage as a Southeast Community College student.

“I worked for a fabrication company in high school,” Middleton said. “So, I wanted to go to school for non-destructive testing. After a semester I realized I didn’t like it, but every day when I’d walk past the machine lab, I thought it was so cool so I switched and took it all the way.”

After he found his way into the machine lab, Middleton began pursuing Associate of Applied Science in Advanced CNC and Automation.

“I really enjoy setting up and running my own parts and programs,” Middleton said. “Last semester we got to design our own projects in class, and I designed a pneumatic can crusher. I designed all my own parts and machined them, it was pretty exciting to see something come to life and make all the parts myself.”

In class he was approached by an advisor for SkillsUSA looking for students to compete in the CNC competitions. Middleton joined under the guidance of Josh Beck, a precision machining instructor on the Milford Campus.

“SkillsUSA provides an opportunity for students like Nathan to showcase and compete against others in their profession,” Beck said. “It trains youth and young adults to be skilled professionals and future leaders.”

“He helped me with most everything,” Middleton said. “He supplied online resources, videos for me to study, and he guided me through the process.”

In April, Middleton competed at the Nebraska SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Conference in the CNC two axis programming competition. He won gold and qualified for the National competition in Atlanta.

Middleton wasn’t sure about attending nationals, but his instructors convinced him it would be worth it. In June he traveled with a bus full of SCC students who were also competing at nationals.

“It was pretty cool, the actual competition area was almost like a trade show, these big names in machine industry were there,” Middleton said.

The competition at the national level was much different than in Nebraska. There was an interview portion, where competitors had to act as if they were applying for a job, a written portion with questions about the field, and a portion that required them to measure samples for error.

Middleton finished third in his category, and went home with $4000 in cash prizes and received some equipment from vendors at the event.

The biggest reward, however, was recognition by Governor Jim Pillen in a ceremony at the capitol in December. All students from Nebraska institutions that placed at nationals were invited, and Middleton represented SCC.

“I’ve never been to anything like that, I was nervous but I had a good time,” Middleton said.

Middleton graduated from SCC in December. He received his associate degree, and now works as a CNC lathe programmer and operator at T & S Services in Pleasant Dale.  He is also attending ignite flight academy to get his private pilot’s license.

“I spent high school worrying about what was next, asking myself ‘what am I going to do?’ Now, I’d tell him to relax,” Middleton said. “It’s not about what you do, it’s about being able to adapt to situations and find people who support you. It’s about who you meet and if you enjoy what you do and who you do it with.”

Damon Bennett
Activities Information Director
402-437-2077
dbennett@southeast.edu