No debt. No delay. Just work, school, and a plan.

When Tobias Romero walked across the stage at Valley High School in May, he carried more than graduation cords resting on his shoulder. He carried years of hard work, a long list of accomplishments, and the pressure of a decision most 18-year-olds are not fully prepared to make.

Tobias graduated fourth in his class with a 4.65 GPA. He had taken Advanced Placement courses, served as student council treasurer, National Honor Society secretary, and student representative on the Instructional Council. The biggest impact was spending three years inside Valley’s Engineering the Future program, where he studied engineering and metals, learned CAD, worked with CNC machines, and became the student other students counted on in the shop.

Engineering the Future is a magnet program inside Valley in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is built for students interested in engineering, computer science, architecture, wood technology, metals technology, JROTC, and business. Students learn through hands-on, project-based experiences that connect technical skills, problem-solving, leadership, and real career pathways.

He had done everything a high-achieving student is told to do. Because of that, he had choices.

Tobias had been accepted to several universities. He received scholarship offers, including a full ride and a presidential scholarship, from High Point University in North Carolina. He was accepted to the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology,  Northern Arizona University, and others. For a long time, college seemed like the obvious direction. Then Tobias began to look at the full picture.

He looked at the cost. He looked at the debt. He looked at the years it would take before he could begin earning a real income. He looked at his family. His mother is a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital and the primary source of income for their family. His father, a former corrections officer, was injured in his previous job. Tobias is the oldest of four children. His youngest sibling is only four years old.

There is a difference between wanting to leave home and knowing where you are needed. Tobias knew.

So he made a decision that was not easy but clear. He stayed in New Mexico. Not because he lacked ambition, but because he had so much of it.

Tobias did not give up on college. He changed the order. He chose to go to work, become a member of SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 49, begin the union’s apprenticeship training program, and take college courses online while earning an income. For Tobias, that decision was about responsibility.

“I do not want to get into any student debt,” he said. “I do not want to be struggling and paying off these loans later in life.”

He also did not want his parents to carry the financial burden of his education. “I feel like parents should not have to pay for your schooling,” he said. “You should be able to figure that out, especially with what you’re wanting to do in your life.”

That is a lot of maturity from an 18-year-old, but Tobias has been carrying responsibility for a long time. He started working at 13 for AB Honest One Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, a local company owned by a family friend from his church community. He began as a laborer, carrying materials and helping wherever he was needed. Over time, he watched, listened, worked, and learned.

The owner saw something in him: work ethic, capability, integrity. Tobias remembered that. He carried those habits into school. Now he is carrying them into the sheet metal industry.

Inside EtF, Tobias found the place where design and hands-on work meet. He learned CAD operations, worked with CNC equipment, built projects, helped in the shop, and learned how to turn an idea into reality. One of those projects was a public stage mural for the Westside Community Center in Albuquerque’s South Valley. Tobias helped with the CAD work and blueprints, ensuring the dimensions were correct and that the design could be sent out, cut, and assembled correctly.

That kind of work leaves an impression on a young person. There is something different about building something that will exist outside of a classroom. Something the public will see. Something that required your mind, your hands, and your attention to detail.

That connection is part of what eventually led Tobias to sheet metal.

At first, he was still thinking about college. His former Valley welding instructor, Shawn Coffey, understood why. Coffey, now Outreach Coordinator for SMART Local Union 49 JATC, had taught Tobias at Valley. He knew Tobias had the grades, intelligence, and drive to pursue a traditional college path. He also knew Tobias had the mind for the trade.

“Tobias is a fantastic young man,” Coffey said. “It took some work to help him see the opportunity in the trade because he was originally focused on college. Once he learned about detailing and how he could use his engineering mind in this industry, he became very interested.”

Coffey also knew Tobias was not the only one who needed to understand the opportunity. His parents had questions too, as most parents would. They wanted to know what their son would be learning, what kind of career path he would have, and whether this decision would support the future Tobias was working so hard to build. Coffey sat down with them and explained the apprenticeship, the trade, the detailing opportunity, and Tobias’s ability to begin earning an income right away. Once they understood the path, they were fully supportive.

That was the turning point. Tobias was not being asked to walk away from his interest in engineering. He was being shown a career he could use.

Through Local 49 and signatory contractor Yearout Mechanical, Tobias learned about detailing and design work in the sheet metal industry. He learned that the trade was not only field work. It was also planning, coordination, CAD, problem-solving, and technical design. It was a place where his engineering mind could be put to work immediately.

Tobias interviewed with Yearout in January. From that point forward, he stayed in touch and waited for graduation so he could officially begin. Then came Signing Day.

Valley held a special stole ceremony for the 60 students who participated in EtF. Students were honored for their time in the program and for the pathways they had completed. Tobias received a stole in recognition of his three years in engineering and metals. When the ceremony ended, the room shifted into Signing Day. Tables were brought forward and covered with branded tablecloths featuring participating companies. One by one, students sat down to sign letters of intent. Eight EtF students signed with signatory contractors of Local Union 49.

Across the country, more schools and industry partners are hosting Signing Days for those entering the trades. For years, students have been celebrated for signing athletic scholarships or committing to universities. Families gather. Photos are taken. The decision is treated as important. James Magofee, Director of Safety and Manpower for Yearout Mechanical, saw the value in bringing that same level of recognition to students choosing skilled trades careers years ago. He understood that students who committed to work, apprenticeships, and skilled careers deserved to be honored, too.

Tobias understood the meaning of it. He was nervous at first and unsure what to expect. But as he sat at the table and signed with Yearout, he knew he was making a real commitment. He was signing with an employer, stepping into Local 49, and beginning a career.

“I was definitely relieved and happy because I knew I was investing in my future,” he said.

The work Tobias will begin with Yearout as a detailer is a rare opportunity for someone coming directly out of high school. 

“Less than one percent of applicants get the opportunity to begin in an office position as a detailer,” said Isaiah Zemke, Business Manager of SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 49. “Tobias has earned a rare opportunity, and we are excited to see what he does with it.”

Cassandra Gonzales, Assistant Principal for Engineering the Future at Valley High School, is not surprised. “Tobias is a great young man,” Gonzales said. “I believe in him. He was one of our strongest students, and he is capable of doing whatever he puts his mind to.”

Yearout saw the same promise. “We are thrilled to have Tobias join our team,” Magofee said. “Of the nine students who signed with Local 49 contractors, he was one of five who committed to work with our company.” 

Tobias started with Local 49 orientation the week after graduation. He will enter the sheet metal apprenticeship with advanced credit because of his experience in EtF. He will work, attend apprenticeship classes, and take college courses online. It will be a full schedule, but Tobias does not seem like someone comfortable standing still.

He likes hunting, fishing, biking, racing dirt bikes and quads, working on cars, playing games with his brothers, spending time with family, and being involved in his church and community. When asked whether he ever sits and does nothing, he answered honestly. Not really.

That makes sense. Tobias has a restless kind of curiosity. The kind that keeps asking questions. The kind that wants to learn the next machine, the next skill, the next program, the next process. Grades matter. Scholarships matter. Recognition matters. But Tobias understands something else too. Work ethic matters more.

“I want to be seen as somebody who is reliable and trustworthy and sticks to their word,” he said. “I am continuously ambitious and continuously push myself to grow.”

That is what the sheet metal industry needs. It needs young people who can think and work. Young people who understand technology but are not afraid of tools. Young people who want to earn, learn, build, and belong to something.

It also needs more students to see the opportunity before they are already carrying debt, before they are years into a path that does not fit, before they assume the trades are only for someone else.

For the sheet metal industry, Tobias Romero is a reminder that the next generation is out there. They are in engineering classrooms, metals shops, robotics labs, welding booths, CTE programs, and high schools across the country. Some are college-bound. Some are trade-bound. Some, like Tobias, are smart enough to see they can do both.

They just need someone to show them where their skills can go.

Tobias found that place. Now he gets to build from here.

Also signing letters of intent with Local 49 signatory contractors were Nicole Campos, Santiago Gallegos, Allan Marquez, Adrian Alvarez with Yearout Mechanical; Andres Andrade, Armando Silva, and Gabriel Carrillo with Butler Sheet Metal & Mechanical; Eli Hershey with JB Henderson.