I held an interview with Zan Fine, a Butler Community College Collision Repair student, about his experience at Butler. In addition to attending college, Zan works part time for a body shop. I encourage students to work in the collision industry while in college. This is an excellent way to get experience and help the students apply what they’ve learned and help them excel in school and on the job. After a few weeks of school Zan spoke with Arlie at Arlie’s Paint Body & Glass in Marion, Kansas. Arlie was kind enough to welcome Zan and offer him a part time job, and now works on Friday’s and Saturday’s for him.
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Donnie – How did you get interested in collision repair?
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Zan – The first thing that sparked an interest was through a shadowing assignment that I did in high school, in my English class. I had the opportunity to spend a day at a body shop and I found that to be exciting and interesting. Later, I visited both programs at Butler (Auto Tech and Collision Repair) and decided that there were too much computer and electrical technology involved with auto tech. So I decided that collision repair was a better fit for me. I like the hands-on.
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Donnie – Now that you’ve been in the collision repair program for about a semester, what area of the industry do you favor?
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Zan – I think that I enjoy working with metal the best. I like to straighten metal and repair dents. However, I’m interested to get into the painting side of this.
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Donnie – Tell me why you decided to choose Butler Community College?
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Zan – I looked at some other programs and felt that therir class size were too big. Butler appeared to have a better atmosphere and everyone was easy to get along with. Dealing with bad attitudes is something I don’t want to deal with at this time.
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Donnie – What do you feel Collision repair has to offer you?
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Zan – I think this training offers a great deal of opportunities. I like learning and doing new things. I hate routine. This industry is constantly changing, which will keep it interesting. I also believe that I will always be able to find a job. Accidents are going to happen, which will require someone to repair them. However, you must be willing to work hard in this industry.
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Donnie – What advice would you give someone considering collision repair as a career?
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Zan – I think that if you like it–go for it. If you decide that you don’t want to be a technician later, there are many other careers to choose from. Shop estimator, insurance appraiser, or shop manager. I was not sure if I was going to like collision repair, but I’ve learned that I love this type of work. Again, this career is for the doers and shakers. If you’re not willing to work hard, it may not be for you.
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Donnie – I know that you’ve been working at Arlie’s part time. Can you tell us a little about that?
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Zan – It’s a great place to work and they have treated me excellent. It is a very clean shop, which make it nice. It has benefited me to work there because what I learn at school helps me apply it at work. The things that I learn at work give me a head start at school.
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Zan is definitely focused on his career and I believe that he will be among the best of the collision repair industry.
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Collision Repair Tip
Using a new razor blade to carefully scrape a run in paint will reduce sanding time.
Fact
Butler Community College was founded in 1927.
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Quote
“Whatever you have, you must either use or lose.”
~Henry Ford
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Question
What are crush zones designed to do when in an accident?
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Here is a video that Zan was asked to produced.

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