Apopka High School offers many opportunities to get ahead in your education. One of these opportunities is Orange Technical College. The Blue & White talked to Ms. Hutchinson, the career specialist here, about the school. She told us that it’s “a technical school so you get a career certificate instead of a two-year AA degree or a four-year Bachelor’s degree.” So why is that helpful? Ms. Hutchinson said that OTC “is more focused on what you want to do when you grow up.” A lot of students go straight into a job after completing their program and getting their certificate. OTC is also a lot more hands-on than other colleges. Ms. Hutchinson mentioned that Orange Technical College classes are based on the program you choose, and that “you’re not taking an English class and a math class, you’re just going to learn the skills that you need for the job you want.”
OTC has a lot of different programs you can join, 3D Animation Technology, Accounting Operations, Cosmetology, Welding, and Nursing are just a few of the tons of programs offered at the school. Junior Clara Drechsel is part of the Medical Assisting program. Clara attends OTC so she can get her Medical Assisting Certification. For AHS Dual Enrollment students, the way it works is they come here to school in the morning, get on a bus, and go to OTC, and they’re at OTC until 4th period, and then they come back to AHS. We asked Clara if it’s difficult balancing two schools
and two sets of classes at a time. She said, “Sometimes when I have a big project due for OTC and don’t have time to finish all my work for my regular classes, it becomes kind of stressful.” Even with these challenges, Clara still recommends OTC to other students. She said, “OTC is a great way to start your future and can benefit students in so many ways. They offer so many amazing programs that you can get your certification in, giving them the ability to jump into a job in the field that they chose to study.”
We also talked to Junior Carol Joseph about her OTC experiences. She told us she decided to attend OTC “because it was one of the fantastic opportunities that allowed me to step into the medical field earlier than usual.” Carol is also part of the Medical Assisting program and has enjoyed it so far! Carol said she sometimes has difficulty juggling her OTC work and high school classes because she’ll have “tests and quizzes at OTC while also having assignments and tests at Apopka on the same day.” Carol also recommends Orange Technical College to other students as “it is a great way to find the careers they want in an earlier setting.”
As we’ve determined, one of the biggest benefits of attending OTC is the hands-on learning that students get. However, some of the other big benefits of OTC are the connections you make and the experiences you get while you attend. Ms. Hutchinson told us that students are taught by people who have actually worked in the field, those teachers will know what a student needs to know and what a job recruiter wants to see. 
Jose Orozco, a senior here, also attends Orange Technical College. He decided to attend OTC to “expand his horizons.” When he went to visit OTC for the first time, he realized how much he would get to learn and found it very interesting. Jose wants to be an Automotive Service Tech, so he’s part of the Automotive Service Technology program at OTC. We asked Jose whether he believes that attending OTC will help him achieve more, and he told us, “Absolutely. I feel like it has already taught me a lot of things that I wouldn’t have been able to learn anyway. And it’s given me a lot of experience that is really valuable in the career that I want to go into. So I feel like it has really helped me in that department.” Jose also recommends OTC to other students. He said, “I would 100% Recommend OTC to other students that are looking to go into more hands-on careers or even careers that you wouldn’t normally find at other universities because they’re not that common. But they definitely do offer a really good program over there with OTC.”
Overall, Orange Technical College is one of the wonderful opportunities here at AHS. It’s clear that lots of students recommend this program. If you’re interested in getting a certification, check out Orange Technical College!
