Positivity helps steer him in the right direction

Chris Townsend is an automotive service technician who is taking classes at Lee College to become a chemical process tech.

“You can become anything you want to be if you have the work ethic to do it. As a young man I attended the Gulf Coast Trades Center, where I started the journey that led me to the automotive industry. Being at this school gave me the opportunity to surround myself with a lot of positive people. I was able to keep to the path that I wanted to follow to get my life where it needed to be.

“I’ve been working on cars since 1995 or ‘96. It really saved me from the streets. If I hadn’t found the automotive industry, I would have been, maybe, in the penitentiary or worse. I have come from the bottom, from an environment that did not encourage me. I was always being told that I wasn’t ever going to do anything and that I would never be anything. “

“I understand struggle in all its forms from my own life experiences, so I try to help everyone that I can no matter their race, religion or where they come from. Being that one positive person in someone’s life that says, ‘Yes you can,’ or lending a helping hand when it is needed is important to me.”

— Chris Townsend