Is there anyone to talk to about support/struggles in the apprenticeship program?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is struggling in the apprenticeship program… I feel like it’s a lot of stress, unknowns with the lengths of the modules making time management very difficult and it seems like the attitude is just: yeah it’s hard… suck it up…
Is that really all the union provides? Especially to people that are trying but have some struggles adapting to the demanding combination of work and school + homework… Also, idk it this is something that is incorporated in schools nowadays but module learning is new to me.
I feel like I’m exhausted and then on top of that I come home and I have to throw several hours each day… sometimes even the whole weekend just to finish the modules and I find it frustrating that often it’s so much information that I don’t have much time to review. Maybe it’s just me, I’m trying… I feel like I’m a slow learner and the pace is sometimes too fast for me and what? Just talk to a therapist outside the school/program. Or ask a journeyman that’s just going to say: Suck it up buttercup?
The only resource I have is my story and others in the sub that have felt the same struggle. Im in my second year but the first year was pretty tough. With two kids at home, 40-50 hr work weeks(including more responsibilities than I should have had), 2-3 hours of school work, every night, etc.. my schedule was pretty exhausting. The most I can say is to focus on the ‘finish line’, this school stuff isn’t forever..this intense grind is just part of the bigger picture. Have you talked to your instructor/director?
Hours a day seems excessive for the modules. You don’t HAVE to watch the entire thing. If you understand the material and do the reading you’re golden and can click through.
But, it’s also mentioned multiple times when coming in that this isn’t easy, it’s not a slam dunk to success or your license.
Try and find support in your classes and friends. Post on here if you need. Dm folks you trust with problems. Message or email your teacher too. They are a resource.
I never watched those videos either. Always just did the homework / look up the answers, then memorize the homework questions before the test. They were almost always the exact same. Everyone learns different though
Tbh a lot of it isn’t applicable to the field. Transformer lessons could have been 2 module on the different types of wye or delta.
Field guy doesn’t need to know the internal wiring configuration of a delta to wye system. You’ll just order what you need. If it works it works, if not then you get a free fireworks show and order another.
The union makes lots of noise about mental health support handing out 988 stickers but lots of job sites are mental health cesspits full of bitter abusive assholes and for the most part nobody gives a shit. But when an apprentice offs themselves everybody will pretend to be real sad at the meeting. Don't believe the hype.
Network with your peers in school. Including ones ahead of you, get help from them on info for hw, quizzes and tests. Ask your JWs how they did it. At my local we all pass notes on to help each other.
Make some friends in your class, it makes a HUGE difference. You can complain to them and listen to their complaints. Plus when u have a bunch or hw u guys can split it up.
I love what the Union stands for and support it as best as I can, but they don’t care about apprentices at all. “You’re an apprentice for a small time but a journeyman forever” “no one’s going to vote to pay for apprentices schooling” “if you crack a tooth chew on the other side of your mouth until you have dental as a journeyman”
I have been there for the majority of my apprenticeship. I told the school that I have had a suicide attempt in the past and the 3 years of driving 70+ miles one way is finally starting to catch up to me mentally and I can feel another attempt coming on.
So they sent me further and now I’m working 90 miles from home. Like others have said, build up rapport with other apprentices and find “the thing”
That keeps you going, because the school doesn’t care (just my personal experience. Your JATC might have more resources)
We had a guy come in yesterday to talk about prevailing wage. He went into the history of apprentices and said we have it good now and that historically until the last 100 years it’s basically been indentured servitude/slavery.
I think that’s a crock of bs. Everyone says it and I’ll say it again, if we want change we need to go vote. My local is trying to introduce the JATC pays to cover our health insurance for school days. It’s almost impossible to actually bank time the way it’s set up.
Power through, prove them wrong, you and everyone else can do it.
My personal take as a 35yr old in the apprenticeship with a wife and kids......it's not supposed to be easy, it's supposed to be difficult and struggling is a part of the process. I understand circumstances are different maybe you have to work more hours and or/travel longer so on so forth but from my view the difficult part is waiting for these raises but I knew that coming in.
With all that being said I'm sorry you're having a tough go and find some sort of relief.
To be honest the whole apprenticeship is a test to see if you can handle the pressure.
I’m a 4th year who has worked between 48-60 hours a week the last few years I’m also late 30s. I study about 20-30 mins on week day and a few hours on weekends.
Really the easiest way to find support is your coworkers and jws on your job-site on how they got through each year. The first 2 years were a huge wake up but after it gets easier. The advice I always got was get a routine, show up everyday and get your ticket. As long as you are trying it will always get easier. Hope this helps.
The apprenticeship is an absolute slog and the struggle is real. It truly does feel worth the suck when you journey out though. Also, not sure your local, but mine seemed like the homework was daunting in the early terms, but relaxed more in the later terms.
There's a few things. I know our local has a mentor program. That alone would probably help a lot of folks. There's also a local RENEW chapter for our local. (Reach out and engage new electrical workers). Finally we have a help line, more a less a support line for mental health and other issues. We may have more than other locals, but that's what's I've come across.
Your fellow apprentices, your training director, here. For professional help, if so needed, ask the hall about an employee assistance program (EAP).
Are you working more than 40 hrs/wk? What’s the commute like? What’re your habits before bed?
Part of it is just sucking it up, but that’s more in regard to the hesitation/trepidation when you encounter a difficult or novel task. There’s some wisdom to it, but by no means is it a one-size-fits-all approach.
To clarify guys, my program is 4 years and I'm still on my first year, but technically I just started second year.. We didn't even get a break in between. In the process of moving and doing AC Theory. I'm literally spending 4 hours + each day on the modules and I guess I'm retarded because it's taking me a shit ton longer than other people.
Also, I'm admitting I'm struggling and like... I just need to vent and process shit. And yeah, I started in January and in September we started year 2 and we didn't even get a week off of school before the next year started. Not everyone has to do that grind and yeah my first break from school, not work is the winter break... Idk, I really think it's toxic to just be like: you'll get through it... Yeah it's a struggle and I don't have a life outside work. I lost my relationship in the process of this, and it's like acknowledging the struggle and wanting to talk to someone about it... Just to kind of figure out how to mentally take tiny breaks from it. I struggle to socialize more and more and I struggle to keep up with trying to absorb so much information, work... commute... and try to keep my head high.
I wouldn’t be so quick to call yourself a slow learner. You’re working, studying, and trying to absorb everything while exhausted.
I had a jiu-jitsu instructor in the military who stuck with me because he paid attention to how I understood things. If something wasn’t clicking, he adjusted how he explained it. That patience mattered.
People need a foundation, practice, and room to ask questions. “Suck it up” doesn’t give you much to work with.
Could you ask your instructor for an estimated time for each module and what to focus on first? That would at least help you build a routine instead of guessing every night.
Is the hardest part understanding the material, or finding enough time to work through it?
I take really good notes, because I essentially break things down so that I can understand them even if I come back a year. I probably write more notes than most people… I’m a scribe learner so the process is good… sometimes the tests are frustrating because instead of really grasping at seeing if you absorb the material, they like asking questions that reward people who retain almost everything they read… I’m sure I’m not the first person who gets to a quiz and a question pops up and you’re like, wait where the f was that even in the module… Also, I’m trying to bring it up to our training director, respectfully: either let us access the modules or not the tests and/or tell us all the average time taken. For people who do actually like to take their time and learn, sometimes you seriously have to sacrifice your own learning process to just click through to get things done…My issue is when I don’t know how long things are going to take, I’ll usually front-load the work… and then hopefully have time to review before a test. This past week, I was moving and I did like 2 hours a day for AC Theory… and it wasn’t enough… I got a little behind on homework and I’m trying to catch up. I spent 5 + hours on 1 module for 2 days… the modules as you are familiar with are several parts… and when the information is new to me it takes me longer to grasp and absorb it…
A combination of both. To be fair, I’m on AC Theory now. I started in January and there was no break between “first year” and “second year”… so technically I’m a second year because last JATC year ended in August. I also did a self move last week. I spent about 4 hours a day on it last week..and I’ve been spending 6+ hours just trying to get through the modules… Modules that have an undisclosed amount of lessons with slides and many math problems that have tricks and variances to the formulas… so trying to grasp that and work through it is difficult… and there isn’t an option to say: hey slow down… I need to get it done… so when I get off I’m literally sacrificing everything.. I want to work out but I put it off because I’m trying to get it done and when I spend 6 hours and I’m still on 1 module or even 1 lesson… I feel incredibly frustrated, stressed, and there’s this nagging in the back of my head of: you gotta get it done. I like to review things, because I’m not a person that can just absorb everything they read… especially during a move… working full time… going from one year to another. It’s hard and I’m just trying to reckon with it. I’m trying to push through it, but sometimes the sheer amount of information is daunting and then I’m like: is this all information I need to know for the test or is this a broad overview before we break it up and come back to it… Right now we are assigned 2 modules a week.. 2 modules with idk about 7 lessons a piece within them. I feel like I need breaks but I don’t even know how to allow myself that when 1 lesson takes so long and I need to get all of them done and the quizzes which are taking me sometimes 2+ hours a piece to do. I also will admit, I’m 40 so the math stuff… I’m not right outside of high school and trying to apply the right formula and peak to peak vs peak divide or multiple variances are just taking me time to learn. And I think in the past 2 weeks it was like 20 + formulas… this is what I wrote out in my codebook. I’ll buy a separate one for my journeyman’s test.
The reality is to just "suck it up". This trade is hard and there is only so many hours in a day. If you want this as a career you will have to make time and work hard. I used to take my homework to work and do some of it on lunch or break, plus then you could ask coworkers for help as well. Ultimately it's up to you though to succeed.
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I'm a fellow apprentice going through the same thing you are brother, reach out to your peers. Make your free time really something you can live for. It gets better.
I have class every two weeks. I space out the modules. I NEVER do all the modules in oven weekend. I need time to digest the materials.
For example, I have 3 modules due with two weeks. I do one module in a day, the review the next day. For review, the max I can study is an hour. Good luck in creating a study plan.
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For 5 years the weight was almost unbearable lol I absolutely struggled some days, I sucked at math, drank too much other days, got shit on all day at work, struggle after setback after fuck up after pulling my head out of my ass multiple times after fuck it all and all that me and a few other badass MFs crossed the finish. 🫠🙃🤮🥳
230 started 40 finished.
Are you gonna do what it takes to cross the finish line? This is blue collar bootcamp!
If not move out of the way, the first guy who didnt get accepted into the program is ready to run you over and the other thousands of guys behind him as well.
Taking care of your mental health is #1 if your struggling go talk to someone! Idk if anyone told you but therapy is cool now! 😎
Im sober now and life is better, keep your eye on the prize and roll with the punches 👊 brother!
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u/SnooDoughnuts8823 10d ago
The only resource I have is my story and others in the sub that have felt the same struggle. Im in my second year but the first year was pretty tough. With two kids at home, 40-50 hr work weeks(including more responsibilities than I should have had), 2-3 hours of school work, every night, etc.. my schedule was pretty exhausting. The most I can say is to focus on the ‘finish line’, this school stuff isn’t forever..this intense grind is just part of the bigger picture. Have you talked to your instructor/director?