Graduate Connections – Meet Ryan Nestman

Ryan, 44, was born in the Bay Area in California. He completed the nine-month Electro-Mechanical Technologies (EMT) program at RSI in June 2023 after moving to Arizona in July 2022. 

Thanks for your time, Ryan; what brought you to Arizona last year, and what did you do before RSI? 

I am three years into recovery for substance addiction. After 17 years as a drug user, I will have been sober for three years on 8/25. I was six months into my second job in recovery, working at an Amazon warehouse, when I got injured on the job. I was living in California trying to get by on Workers’ Comp, paying $900 a month rent for a bedroom. He wanted to raise it to $1,100 and I just couldn’t afford that. Then, last year, my son got out of the military. He had been stationed in Hawaii with the Marines, but he moved to Phoenix. I’d made some friends over here through online meetings in my recovery program, so given that the cost of living was cheaper here, I had friends here, and my son was moving here, I decided to move to Phoenix. 

Congratulations on your sobriety. Did you have a prior career?

I had a career in mental health; I was a Peer Support Specialist. I did that before I got fired, then I had about three years where I wasn’t working. I was still using drugs and was actually selling drugs to make my rent and everything. Before long I was homeless, living out of my car and couch surfing. I was constantly in a state of depression. I was diagnosed with mental health issues prior to my drug use, and the drugs just exacerbated my mental health condition. I was just tired of being tired. Tired of not having any money, tired of being homeless, tired of my family not wanting to have anything to do with me. Tired of the things that just happen when you get addicted. I finally decided I was done with that life and got sober. 

Good for you. So, when you got to Arizona last summer, why trade school and why RSI?

I was living in transitional housing here in Phoenix, basically getting paid to stay home and do nothing. I was still on Workers’ Comp. So, I thought that I might as well go to school and learn something. I got thinking about the trades; getting a trade is a great way to make decent money without a formal college education. I knew that people in the HVAC industry in Arizona made decent money, so I looked into a couple of HVAC schools. I chose RSI because they had a shorter program, with more options, and more classes to take. 

Do you have any prior experience with electric or HVAC? How did you get on with the program?

None whatsoever, and honestly, I wasn’t prepared for the amount of material that was crammed in such a short period of time! It’s a very intensive program.

Did you doubt yourself?

Yes, for sure. I hadn’t been in school in twenty something years! All of a sudden, I’m in full-time education doing this really in depth, detailed program with a lot of information to absorb. It just kind of shocked me at first. There were a lot of times in that first three or four weeks when I was like, “I can’t do this. I’m not ready for this. I’m not smart enough for this. I can’t handle all this information this fast.” I had a lot of self-doubt about whether I’d be able to remember all this stuff in tests and quizzes. It revealed a lot of self-doubt in me, but I just stuck with it and showed up every day. 

What got you past those thoughts of quitting?

I had a phone call with one of my brothers once a week. We talked on a routine basis. He’s been my mentor since I’ve been sober. Talking things out with him helped. He’s the one that convinced me to stay with it. I think it was especially hard because I’d been doing nothing for about a year since I got injured. So, from doing nothing on Workers’ Comp to doing this full-steam-ahead class was just really overwhelming. It was mentally very tiring, plus I had some memory issues because of my drug use. 

Good for you for persevering. It shows what we can all do if we put our mind to something? 

The teachers helped a lot. I liked the teachers. They were very nice, and very good to the students. They kept pushing me – us – forward. They made me want to do more, to learn more. They make you want to complete their class. They made it easy, well not easy, but they taught the classes in such a way that we were able to succeed. We were able to accomplish things, and finish what we started. 

Is that what you enjoyed most about your time at RSI? The relationships with your instructors.

Yes. Each instructor was different. They each taught differently, but they were still able to captivate me, and help me get the most out of myself. They were honest and used their field experience, their real-world knowledge, to help us. They merged stuff from the field with the class curriculum. They gave us tips along the way – things to do and not to do! 

At 43/44. were you the old man in class?

Actually, no. There were quite a few people around my age – mid-thirties, early forties. We had a big class of 36 people when we started; we ended up at 24. I was around the middle, I guess. There were quite a few younger people just out of high school, but there were also a lot around my age.So, did you get a job before graduation?

I did. The interview was two weeks before school ended. I had to give notice on my old job, so I started work for Principal Service Solutions on July 6. They’re a workforce company that hires people for other companies. They offer a good benefits package, including vacation time, so it’s not like working for a temp placement agency. With them, I’m working for a company called Muratec at the TSMC plant in north Phoenix.

So, what are you doing for them?

I’m an Adjustment Technician. They have overhead transporters that move materials that microchips and semiconductors are made out of. I make adjustments on the track and deal with issues. My job is mainly based on problem solving, diagnosing, troubleshooting; the electrical part of training on the EMT program.  

Was it a conscious choice to focus on that side, and not the HVAC part?

Kind of. I didn’t really like the idea of hot attics, plus it was also the first opportunity that came along. It was the first job interview I had during school. They were looking for people with the skills I explained earlier. 

Are you happy with what you’re making?

Most companies were hiring grads at anywhere from $18 to $23 an hour. I had to go back to work in the mental health field for the last two months of school because I was released from Workers’ Comp. I was already making $21/hour plus a few hours guaranteed overtime each week. So, I was making pretty decent money. Originally, I didn’t want to have this interview because I thought they were a temporary agency with no benefits. But then, as I learned more about the company, I decided to do the interview. They said it was a good fit and they offered the job pretty much on the spot. I started at $28/hour, and I’m happy with that.

What’s your ultimate career goal? 

I can definitely see myself staying in this line of work, learning more about my job. I’m only at the beginning of what I intend to learn. There’s so much more to learn about the field that I’m in now, about robots in overhead transportation, about microchips and semiconductors! I want to learn so much more about it.

What do you enjoy most about your new trade?

It’s probably that – the knowledge I’m going to gain. It’s also the team I work with. My whole team, except for one, are RSI graduates. We’ve all been through the same school, have the same training, the same experience. A couple of the guys were in my class, but we’re all recent graduates from within in the last year or so. 

What advice do you have for new students to be successful at RSI? 

Join the ambassadors. I was a student ambassador. You can’t start until you reach Phase 3, but then you get to help students behind you with tutoring, you help with events at the school. I liked helping people that were struggling, I got to tutor them, and use my own experiences to help them get through. I got a lot out of giving back, but you also get privileges and perks! You get first choice when they send out résumés, you get a special stash of stuff! You get to build stronger relationships with staff and teachers – they see you’re the kind of person who likes to give back. That was a big thing for me. 

I’d also say, stay determined. Sometimes it’s hard, but just be determined and stick through it. Ask for help. Ask the student ambassadors for help, ask the teachers for help, ask your classmates for help.

If you’re an RSI graduate and would like to share your success and be an inspiration to others, please email [email protected] to be considered for a Graduate Connection interview. Please include details such as your graduation date (month/year) and program.