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   When Justin Phelps studied Electrical Instrumentation at CTEC in 2013, his instructor, Rick Peters, would occasionally break up the lab work by reading aloud. “He’d read messages from old students. They’d tell him: ‘Now I’m working at this company, making ‘X’ amount of money.’ I always remembered the money part.” Justin laughs. “It kept me motivated.”

   This was, he recalls, a dark time. “I didn’t have a degree, but I had an affinity for electronics. I had been working as an electronics tech until I got laid off in 2008.” He took multiple jobs to support his family. “I was a mechanic, a landscaper and a professional mover. But I couldn’t find something I enjoyed that would make enough to support a family.” A FAFSA scholarship got him into YC, and Rick Peters’ classroom.

   “He was just a really, really great teacher. He’s a blast in class. But he also explains theories so you understand how to use them in the real world.” That ability to translate formula into technology became a theme in Justin’s career. By 2014, when he earned his Electrical and Instrumentation Associate of Arts Degree, Justin had just started as a $18/hour electronics assembler at a Tempe medical equipment manufacturer.

   “It was a small company: Six engineers, with bachelors or masters degrees. I asked the owner if he’d ever hire a non-degreed engineer. He said, ‘definitely not.’ I took that as a challenge.” He began applying what he’d learned. “Things Rick taught me helped me solve problems the degreed engineers were unable to. That’s when I thought I was onto something.” In less than two years, Justin was made an Engineer. He began designing medical equipment. “Now, basically, all the heart valves go through machines I helped work on or design.”

   He then became a sales engineer, traveling to Mexico and Costa Rica to troubleshoot equipment and build client relationships. He was offered a $120,000 salary to come to Samsara, then one of America’s fastest-growing companies. “I was blown away by that,” he said. “I thought, ‘Really? With an Associates Degree?’” After a year at Samsara, Justin became an Enterprise Sales Engineer for a startup company. Now he works from his Tempe home, travelling occasionally to the Silicon Valley, as part of a position paying $200,000 per year.

   “I’ve been here four months now, and it’s good. It’s really hard. But I’ve always enjoyed challenges and the feeling like I’m drowning.” He laughs. In his spare time, Justin develops pet engineering projects at home, and enjoys the thought that he is now one of Rick Peters’ letters.

   What would he say to someone hearing those letters at CTEC? “There’s no time like the present to get started. Don’t wait for a perfect time. There will always be obstacles. Give yourself permission, don’t allow excuses, and don’t stop.”