>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

[MUSIC] >> Austin: South Central Kansas, it's pretty diverse for the middle of America to have all sorts of different people from all sorts of walks of life.

People know it for aviation.

A lot of engineering companies settle in Wichita.

Kansas is agricultural, a little bit of a mix of everything.

>> Hannah: I feel like my age group struggles a lot with identity, or who am I?

what do I wanna be?

And if I'm not where I wanna be, how do I get there?

>> Mirza: We are at that point of life where we are learning, and we have to get somewhere.

>> Gary: Society kind of expects you to decide on what you're doing for the rest of your life for the next 45 years.

So yeah there's definitely doubt.

>> Aubrie: At first, I wasn't thrilled about staying in Wichita.

I wanted to get away.

>> Austin: I don't know if I see myself staying in South Central Kansas or not.

>> Hannah: And so for me, it's trying to make sure that I'm not disappointed with where I end up.

>> Aubrie: I grew up here and I didn't ever see really what it had to offer.

I just kinda saw it in the negative light that other people did.

So I'm really excited to explore the opportunities that do lie here.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: We're getting to drive a big green RV around South Central Kansas to interview all sorts of people from all sorts of different backgrounds.

>> Gary: And we're meeting with ten people from five different industries: healthcare >> Aubrie: Advanced manufacturing, agriculture >> Austin: Information technology >> Gary: and aerospace.

>> Austin: I think there's gonna be a lot of new experiences.

>> Gary: Getting a deeper understanding for every industry, even if it's not my own.

>> Hannah: And so learning about their industries and their stories helps me with so many different aspects of the decision for after graduation.

>> Aubrie: Hearing what they have to say, and how they ended up here, and why they stayed here, things I'm interested in.

>> Austin: Yeah, so I'm excited for all the newness that I will be experiencing.

>> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: As the five Roadtripers travel across South Central Kansas in the big green RV, they'll be taking turns interviewing different people and exploring different industries based on their interests and their school schedules.

>> [MUSIC] >> Hannah: It's the first day.

>> Austin: It's kind of surreal that we have a green RV waiting for us.

>> Aubrie: So the other road trippers are Austin, Gary, which I already knew both of them, Mirza, and Hannah.

>> Austin: I've been super excited for this trip.

Getting to talk with the other Roadtrippers is super awesome.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: Where do you guys see yourselves in five, ten years?

>> Hannah: I really wanna pinpoint where I'm going to be in what industry I'm gonna be in.

>> Austin: Yeah.

>> Hannah: So I really feel it's important for me to kind of branch out and talk to people who have experiences that I've never thought of before.

I'm Hannah, I'm from Leawood, Kansas.

I came to Wichita State where I am currently a senior forensic science student.

In terms of dreams, I wanna be in a place where I'm working in the medical field.

I settled on forensic science because I've always loved chemistry and biology and anatomy.

In terms of like what to do with my life, I have had what I guess we would call Noise.

It's not a glamorous field.

And so, specifically, I know my dad was kind of like, well, what if you get a call and it's night and it's not a safe scene or if you're worried?

And I'm like, those are always very valid statements to hear from people who love you.

It was always taking those into consideration but not letting it make me too afraid to do it.

I just wanna hear people's stories, how they got to where they are, if they had any challenges, how did they overcome them, why they're passionate about what they do because I'm trying to target what my passion is.

>> Austin: What are some of the differences between here and where you grew up?

>> Mirza: The food back in my home is very tasty, guys, I have to [LAUGH] I have to tell you the truth [LAUGH] I'm not liking the food here.

My name is Mirza Sabra Shahid and I'm 25 years old.

>> [MUSIC] >> Mirza: When it comes to making this decision of coming to US from Pakistan to pursue my studies, I would say I was kind of ready for it.

[LAUGH] I didn't give it a second thought.

I'm an international student at Wichita State University, and I'm doing the master's in computer sciences, and I'm especially focused on cybersecurity.

I'm quite excited about it.

In terms of goals, I want to be an independent person, especially financially and in any aspect of my life.

The main thing that disturbs me right now is, can I do it?

Am I able to do it?

>> Austin: I'm kinda in the same boat as you guys as well.

I'm really not biased to leaving as well as staying.

I'm really just kinda up for whatever opportunity presents itself, and then be able to take it and run with it.

So my name is Austin David Rempel and I am studying engineering at Wichita State.

Fun fact about myself, I enjoy freestyling to smooth jazz.

Okay my freestyle skills are not that good, I see a train ahead, what's good?

I think I've always wanted to be an engineer.

It's always just kinda been a continuation of smaller passions building into bigger passions, building LEGOs into building robots.

I say I wanna design and create, right?

What does that look like?

I don't know yet.

I know I want to find a job, something to do that I enjoy.

Whatever that looks like, I don't know yet though, so that's my uncertainty.

>> Gary: I've also grown up in a small little town.

So I'm really open to something new, maybe something bigger.

My name is Gary Tran.

I'm a freshman studying aerospace engineering at Wichita State University.

My parents are both immigrants from Vietnam.

They risked everything to come over here.

As a first-gen student, I wanna do something with this.

So it was always like, okay, well, how am I gonna pay for my education?

I think I applied for around 20 scholarships, but it all paid out in the end.

My goal is hopefully one day to work for NASA.

I'm pretty excited right now.

I was accepted to a national challenge offered by NASA and I'll be on the Wichita State team.

The biggest fear is not enjoying what I do and realizing that aerospace engineering isn't for me.

>> Aubrie: I don't have a set path right now, and I know I just wanna do something I'm interested and I'm passionate about, but I don't know what that is yet.

My name is Aubrie Thomison.

I am 19 years old and a sophomore at Wichita State University.

I'm studying biomedical engineering and I'm working on my minor in mathematics.

My parents told me at a young age, we're not paying for your education, we can't.

So you're gonna have to work hard.

And that's why I've always been such a hard worker and that's why I've always been so involved because I always knew I wanted to pursue my education.

The end goal is just to do something that I enjoy and see the impact from it.

Engineering is already not a very heavily female-dominated field, so when I'm going to my classes sometimes there's just this little bit of doubt just like, really, do I belong here?

And so just knowing how much a conversation with somebody can impact me I'm really hoping to talk to these people.

And even if has nothing to do with my field, just learn from them I mean I am so excited just to get advice from people.

>> Austin: I think we're ready.

Let's get a Roadtrip Nation on three.

Here we go.

Roadtrip Nation.

Wait, no, wait, hold on.

One, two, three, Roadtrip Nation.

>> All: Roadtrip Nation.

>> Gary: [LAUGH] >> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: Today the Roadtrippers are going to explore two different career paths within healthcare: nursing and art therapy.

>> [MUSIC] >> Hannah: For me, I'm interested in healthcare.

>> Aubrie: I am really looking forward to getting in advice for people in healthcare.

>> Narrator: Healthcare is the second largest industry in the greater Wichita area, employing over 27,000 people annually, and with more than 800,000 people to care for in this region.

South Central Kansas is now home to 18 inpatient care facilities, plus hundreds of specialty medical practices.

Their first stop is Wesley Medical Center.

>> Aubrie: Could you tell us a little bit more about yourself, or what journey you took to get where you are now?

>> Logan: I have worked here for 15 years in different capacities, from sterile processing on up to helping create our spine surgery program.

Surgery isn't normal for folks.

>> Aubrie: Right.

>> Logan: So that's why I'm here to help it be a little easier process for them.

>> Hannah: It was a really different environment than what I was expecting to be in.

I wasn't expecting to wear scrubs.

>> Austin: We were right in the operating room.

I guess I didn't know what to really expect.

>> [MUSIC] >> Katie: Usually, when I describe art therapy, I kind of tell people it's imagine just traditional therapy.

But we are using more of the art and the creative process, the act of making it as the therapy as opposed to just talking about it.

So there's a lot of things that making art, or engaging in some kind of creative process can tap into more than trying to find the right words to describe what's going on.

>> Aubrie: That's so important.

>> [MUSIC] >> Jessica: I, as an art therapist, will design an art directive or art project that we'll do together.

So the session very much looks like my client comes in, we have a quick check-in, and then we quickly move to the art table and we start creating whatever this directive is.

So one thing about art therapy, there's definitely a mindfulness quality to it.

You are engaged in your senses right now.

Literally, we can even smell the shaving cream, that is all very good for our mental health.

>> Aubrie: The activity was fun.

It's definitely something I was stressed about some because I'm not artistic and I'm not very creative and I get worried that things aren't gonna be perfect when I do it and why am I wasting my time doing it?

>> Jessica: This project is a perfect example of how we're not making art to hang on the wall and it doesn't have to be something beautiful but it's more about the process of making it.

>> Aubrie: Wow.

>> Jessica: Beautiful >> Narrator: While about 40% of healthcare workers in South Central Kansas work in private practitioners' offices, another 33% work within a hospital setting, where your day-to-day life may look more structured like Logan's.

>> Logan: We typically do around 30 orthopedic and spine surgeries a week and so a busy day for us would be about ten total joint replacements- >> Gary: Wow.

>> Logan: And five spine surgeries.

>> Gary: You've got a lot on your plate.

>> Logan: It's a very full plate.

>> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: The average mean wages for healthcare workers in Sedgwick County is $82,800 a year.

In Kansas, art therapists make $47,150 a year on average and registered nurses make $64,100.

Both registered nurses and art therapists are considered bright outlook careers by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which means they're expected to grow rapidly and offer high rates of job opportunities over the next several years.

In fact, during the road trip, registered nurses were the most in-demand healthcare career in South Central Kansas.

>> [MUSIC] >> Logan: My wife and I decided to go to nursing school together.

So we went through a junior college plan and I've transitioned into a baccalaureate-level nurse since then.

>> Hannah: Did you feel like you've had any kind of noise or people telling you to do something or not to do something?

Did you experience any of that?

>> Logan: Absolutely I think what's important is to take the constructive criticism from everybody that you meet early in your career and take the best pieces from everybody.

And then that can help you mold your philosophy on work.

>> Narrator: In South Central Kansas, most registered nurses must earn a bachelor's degree like Logan.

But if you're interested in becoming a nursing assistant or a vocational nurse, you can get started with an associate degree or even a certificate from your local community college.

No matter which educational path you take into nursing, you'll also need to complete your clinicals, which are hours of on-the-job training where you'll shadow other medical professionals.

In addition to classwork and clinicals, many nursing students choose to work entry-level healthcare jobs on the side to learn more about the industry and get their foot in the door.

For example, Logan got his start at Wesley Medical Center as a sterile processing technician.

>> Logan: I started in sterile processing.

So what that means is you have the instruments that are used during surgery, they need to be prepared and sterilized before they're used on people.

>> Aubrie: That fascinates me, the devices, the medical devices.

>> Logan: Yeah.

>> Aubrie: It's a huge field.

>> Logan: It's a big field and it's always, always changing.

>> Aubrie: Yeah.

>> Logan: I did that for a few years while going through some of my undergrad studies, became a circulating nurse in the operating room, and then in 2017, helped start the spine surgery program here at Wesley.

Since then I have acquired the total joint replacement program earlier this year.

To do a laminectomy, we use a high-speed drill like at the dentist's office, and you go and you thin out the bone right through here.

So once you take the pressure off those nerves, that should free them up to alleviate the pain that patients are having in their backs and their legs.

>> Aubrie: Do I have to line it up better?

>> Logan: Back towards you.

>> Aubrie: That's the point, okay.

From a biomedical standpoint, I thought that the demonstration of the device was definitely the coolest part.

>> Mirza: I was constantly thinking how hard it must be for the doctors to do that on the real human beings, how precise and how sensitive they had to be.

>> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: While there are many paths into nursing, the road into art therapy is a bit more structured.

In order to practice as an art therapist in Kansas, you'll need both a bachelor's and a master's degree.

What you choose to study for your bachelor's degree is flexible but many art therapists start their path by studying art.

>> Katie: I had always been really involved in art.

And I loved making art and I knew I wanted to do something with that but I took my first psychology class and I completely fell in love with it.

I was like this is fascinating to me.

I really wanna know more.

And then I heard the words art therapy, and I was like, that is for me.

That's what I wanna do.

>> Aubrie: For young individuals, how would you recommend or kind of guide them into getting into art therapy?

>> Jessica: Reaching out to an art therapist, and just sitting down kinda like we are today.

That's a great place to start if you're not connected or you don't know anybody in the field.

>> Logan: Be eager to work, come ready to learn and ready to work, and immerse yourself into the field that you're exploring as a career option early.

>> Hannah: So what keeps you motivated in this job?

>> Logan: The little victories are important.

Maybe an elderly lady had a back problem that didn't allow her to walk down the aisle in the grocery store and we can help her do her month's worth of grocery shopping now.

That's a big deal.

Give people their lives back.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: It's been an awesome journey so far, and it's only begun.

>> Mirza: We are traveling around in this green RV like hippies [LAUGH].

>> All: Cheers to the governor.

>> Hannah: Yes, we've seen some interesting stuff, for sure.

It's been awesome.

>> Austin: Fun fact about South Central Kansas is you will not be able to predict the weather no matter how hard you try.

Gary Tran, he's the man.

>> Aubrie: Gary and Austin are both hilarious.

>> Austin: One more time, one more time, hold it, hold it, longer, just a little bit longer.

Come on, this'll look so good.

>> Hannah: They both just seem very funny, but also at the same time very successful, very smart.

>> Gary: Haha, you got it.

>> Hannah: We have so many tools between all of us, and it's cool.

We're going to Aviate, which I'm really excited for, I haven't been to a trampoline park since I was like 12.

I think it'll be like a cool team bonding moment.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: We got to jump around, be a little active.

I think everybody had a great time to get a good sweat going.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: One more time.

>> [MUSIC] >> Hannah: I also thought it was cool to see how the other roadtrippers' personalities started to come out.

>> Mirza: That was fun, that was really cool.

>> Austin: You got it.

>> [MUSIC] >> Hannah: So, today's interview is with some leaders in the manufacturing industry.

>> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: South Central Kansas has a long history as a hub for manufacturing.

In fact, it was the manufacturing industry that drove one of Wichita's first booms back in the 1880s.

To this day, the greater Wichita area is home to over 900 manufacturing companies and manufacturing is responsible for 18% of the jobs in the region.

But modern manufacturing looks very different than it did in the 1800s.

So, the roadtrippers went to explore how two local companies, the Smart Factory and Aeronautix, are helping to push the world of advanced manufacturing into the future.

>> Kelsey: It's kind of addicting, like solving problems.

Some folks run away from the problems, and I've always kind of ran straight toward them.

>> Abbas: The best thing I like about working here is you get to enjoy all flavors of engineering.

You get to work with aerodynamics, propulsion, electrical.

>> Kelsey: What I do is help companies that make things.

So, manufacturers really hit their manufacturing objectives using Industry 4.0 smart technologies to accelerate what they can do.

>> Gary: Could you elaborate a little bit more on what Industry 4.0 Technology is?

>> Kelsey: So they call it Industry 4.0 because it's the fourth industrial revolution.

And if you think back to times of extreme human development, socio-economic development, it's because of manufacturing industry innovations.

A lot of times they're like, well, what is smart manufacturing, what does that even mean?

>> Gary: What does that mean?

>> Kelsey: It's really a production line, a way to make things in the most efficient and effective way that creates the safest environment for your people and the lowest emissions.

>> Mirza: Handling the robot dog was a fascinating thing for me.

>> Speaker 12: This is gonna move you up and down, and left and right is gonna control where you look, basically.

>> Mirza: Seeing the technology being implemented in a very perfect way, it was kind of surreal.

>> [MUSIC] >> Abbas: My name is Abbas Kamar, I'm an associate engineer here at Aeronautix.

We work extensively in aircraft certification.

We support the engineering, design, and redesign to ensure that that aircraft is certified and can fly from a legal standpoint.

>> [MUSIC] >> Abbas: Day to day, we're supporting engineering.

We're supporting certification, we're supporting flight tests, ground test, manufacturing.

>> Kelsey: The really cool thing about manufacturing is your day-to-day is gonna be very different.

Manufacturing operations is a field where you're putting together this entire symphony of things, right?

You have to have the right raw materials.

You have to have the right humans in the right place at the right time.

You have to have your equipment all synchronized to run at the right time.

So, all of these things need to come together and that's one big math problem.

>> [MUSIC] >> Narrator: In Kansas, aerospace engineers like Abbas can expect to make an average of $99,040 each year.

And aerospace engineering jobs are projected to grow at a rapid rate in Kansas over the next several years, growing 18% by 2030.

Kelsey's job is most closely aligned to manufacturing engineering, where you can make an average of $79,140 a year in Kansas.

Manufacturing engineering jobs are also expected to see huge growth in Kansas, projecting to grow 22% by 2030.

>> [MUSIC] >> Abbas: I attended high school back in Pakistan, and then applied for a bunch of colleges across the US to major in aerospace engineering.

And then ended up picking Wichita State, just because how much Wichita itself brings to the table.

>> Aubrie: I know what I like, but I don't know what I'm passionate about yet, and so I just wondered how you found this specific part of your field.

>> Abbas: As you proceed through your degree program, it creates that sense of realization that okay, this is what I like, and I wanna hone in on it.

And intrinsically you start wanting to connect and network with people who are ahead of you.

>> Austin: Yeah, yeah.

>> Aubrie: I wanna connect with people on LinkedIn and I'm always like, I could make my LinkedIn look better before I reached out.

>> Austin: Yeah.

>> Aubrie: But I have enough experience, I can reach out, I can learn from them, they're not gonna think I'm silly because I don't have years of experience.

>> Abbas: You just gotta sometimes push yourself out of that comfort zone.

If they recognize your love and your passion for something, they will help you.

>> Narrator: For most aerospace engineering or manufacturing engineering careers, you'll need a bachelor's degree like Abbas.

But if you want work on the consulting side of manufacturing like Kelsey, you may need to pursue a more advanced degree.

She has a master's degree in electrical engineering, as well as a certificate in strategy and innovation.

>> Gary: What are some skills that maybe some young individuals that wanna break into the industry should focus on?

>> Kelsey: I think it's less about the background and the training and although that's really good, and it's really important, it's more about do I have the ambitious personality to continue to challenge myself and continue to learn?

>> Aubrie: And do you think you've always been like that?

>> Kelsey: I do think I've been very curious, just kind of part of my personality.

>> Aubrie: I'm just thinking about how much I feel like I resemble you and your path and your thoughts.

It's awesome, it's just I feel like I relate so much with you.

>> Kelsey: I would just advise you to hang on to that passion and not lose it.

And if you ever feel like you're in a role where it's flaming out or it's dying, it's probably time to make a change.

>> Hannah: It has been so amazing to learn about all the opportunities that are offered in these industries.

>> Gary: When she was saying, be curious, maybe that's what you need.

Maybe you need to go outside your comfort zone.

>> Austin: It's really cool to hear that we have opportunities here.

>> Gary: It's opened up the thought of me staying in Kansas.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip and I can't wait to keep going.

>> Hannah: I'm just really excited to use this newfound confidence to start getting out of my comfort zone.

>> Narrator: Next time on Paths Across Kansas, the journey continues as the roadtrippers explore careers in agriculture, IT, and aerospace and aviation.

>> [MUSIC] >> Austin: I always like seeing the intersection of different industries.

>> Aubrie: Yeah.

Im so excited for that >> Gary: Seeing what South Central Kansas has to offer.

>> Leah: There are ways you can pursue your degrees, but you have to go out there and look and find it and make it.

>> Aubrie: I feel like it's been a great opportunity to explore the opportunities that do lie here.

>>Jay: Cyber security won't go away.

So it's a great industry to be in.

It's something you've got to want to really be somebody that is willing to continue to learn.

Yeah.

>> Narrator: Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com