September 17, 2026
When Max R. took the Future Plans assessment as a senior at Lakeside High School, he was flagged as a “senior without a plan.” He knew he wanted a successful future—he just didn’t know what it looked like yet. As the child of a family where English wasn’t the first language, Max was making decisions about school and career with little precedent to draw on. His older brother was the only person in their immediate family to graduate high school, which makes everything Max has done since carry that much more weight.
The assessment, along with coaching through the Future Plans 5 Step Process, introduced Max to welding opportunities through the GRIT Summer Bootcamp. He signed up mostly out of curiosity. He left with a passion for the trade. An exploratory program turned into a real direction—one he could picture himself actually building a life around.
By the end of the bootcamp, Max had three industry-recognized certifications in hand. Not long after, he was hired at Hose Master in Euclid, Ohio, where he’s now worked for more than a year and earned multiple wage increases along the way.
He didn’t stop there. The bootcamp gave him enough confidence to keep going academically, and he’s now enrolled at Lakeland Community College working toward a welding degree. His hands-on experience from the bootcamp let him skip several entry-level classes, putting him ahead of where a typical incoming student would start.
Max walked into the Future Plans process not knowing what came after graduation. Today, he’s a working welder, a college student, and the first in his family to take his education this far—proof of what opens up when young people get a real shot to explore a trade, build actual skills, and see where it leads.
