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Earlier this spring, as the other seniors at Poultney High School were picking out dresses and tuxes, Jared Preseau’s “prom prep” had him scouring auto parts catalogs. After replacing the motor, transmission, and four-wheel-drive axels in his 1989 Ford F150 over the winter, he was hustling to button up some final repairs he had missed. “I want to get it ready for prom,” he said with a grin.  

Working on motors, engines, and equipment has been Jared’s passion for a long time, ever since the day the hay baler broke on his grandfather’s farm when he was eight years old. “We hit a big rock in the hay pile, and we had to take the spinner apart to fix it where it got bent. It still works to this day.”

That was the first time Jared experienced the satisfaction of taking something broken and making it work again. He’s felt the same pride many times since, working on brushhogs, tractors, 4-wheelers, and neighbors’ lawn mowers and snowblowers.

Echoing advice on education

Jared was raised by his grandparents in Wells, and much of his growing-up experience took place on their 400-acre, 70-cow beef farm in Pawlet. “Haying is pretty much my summer,” he says. His grandfather, in particular, was an important role model, introducing him to farm life, fishing, and turkey and deer hunting. “He taught me everything I know,” says Jared. On the equipment side of things, his grandfather did most of the farm’s repairs, and as a young boy, Jared was usually by his side and looking over his shoulder.

His grandfather passed away two years ago, but he leaves a legacy in the mechanical knowledge he passed down to his grandson. Jared’s grandfather lives on through the knowledge Jared will gain when he goes on to college this fall at .

It’s a path his grandfather wanted for him, but one Jared almost didn’t take. “For years I was dead set on not going to college,” Jared says. “I didn’t think it was for me.”

His grandfather did not go to college, heading to work on the farm instead. He also had several off-farm jobs doing logging, driving dump trucks and excavators, and as the head road commissioner for the town of Pawlet. “Something along those lines was what I thought about doing,” says Jared, until other family members echoed his grandfather’s advice to go to college.

My aunts, my grandmother, my grandfather—they all wanted me to go. And my uncle said not going to college was his biggest regret. He worked as a mechanic off the farm, and said he didn’t make the money he could have made if he’d had a degree.

Having options

So last summer, Jared reflected on his plans, heard his grandfather’s voice, and started to wonder if he was being more stubborn than smart. As senior year kicked off, he met with his guidance counselor, attended a college fair, and started working with Nathan Hickey, an outreach counselor for �й�������’s GEAR UP program, a federally funded initiative that provides additional counseling and financial support to modest-income students who want to continue their education beyond high school.

“Each time I connected with Jared, I became more impressed with him as someone who has good values and ethics and a desire to continue his education after high school,” says Hickey.

“It’s been helpful to talk with Nate about next steps along the way,” says Jared. “He also helped me out with scholarship applications, and I applied for quite a few. I’m not good with words, so having Nate there to help me was great.”

While he applied to several schools in Vermont, Maine, and upstate New York, Jared chose Northern Maine Community College for its diesel and hydraulics program and its affordable tuition. While the school offers both two- and four-year degree programs, Jared plans to start with the two-year plan. “I think I’d rather get out and work, but if I change my mind and decide to get more classroom experience, I’ll have that option.”

If it's broken, try again

Jared’s already gotten far through hands-on learning and—occasionally—some hockey tape.

“Last winter, some buddies and I had entered the Granville Lighted Tractor Parade, and I discovered my tractor had a fuel leak while we were in line for the parade. So while we were waiting, I took off the rear portion of the body, spliced in a piece of metal, and wrapped it with hockey tape. My buddy plays hockey and had some in his truck. It’s actually still holding,” Jared says with a laugh, although he plans to weld it—another of his favorite hobbies—before entering the tractor pulls this summer.

While he’s grateful for the advice from his grandfather and, more recently, from his dad—with whom he keeps in contact and calls “one good mechanic”—Jared’s also not afraid of trial and error.

“I figure if I break something, I’ll just try again and figure out how to do it. That’s the only way you’re going to learn.”