Jack Goehausen, HVAC Technician and Scholarship Winner

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink

Jack Goehausen is an early riser. Every day except Sunday and Monday, he’s preparing soup in the kitchen of Soup Love, a small business in Virginia Beach, by 8 a.m.

“I opened my phone up, and I was kind of jumping up and down,” he said. “Oh my goodness. Just seeing the dollar amount. I was like, holy…”

After 5 p.m., he commutes across Hampton Roads to nearby Norfolk, Virginia for night classes at Tidewater Tech, where he is training to become a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) technician. When classes end — around 10:30 p.m. — he joins friends for a skateboarding session, which helps him decompress.

Then, “I hit the bed like a rock, wake up, and start right back over.”

Goehausen’s dedication to his work earned him a $20,000 Mike Rowe Work Ethic Scholarship, enabling him to attend trade school and setting him up to graduate nearly debt-free.

“A $30,000 trade program is a lot more palatable when the scholarship covers most of it,” he said. “So it really was the scholarship that made it possible.”

He has reapplied, hoping that another scholarship might cover his outstanding balance with Tidewater Tech and clear the books, he said. “I'll hopefully graduate completely debt-free, which is the goal, ultimately.”

That goal, along with the commitment to providing for himself, has guided his steps since he started supporting himself at nineteen.

“I'm at that kind of awkward spot where my parents earn enough not to get assistance, but they don't earn enough to help me out on my own,” Goehausen said. After high school, he moved out.

The first couple of years were difficult. Living on his own turned out to be above his means: he would work three jobs yet struggle to break even.

During this time, he was determined to continue his education. However, he was unsure how he would find the time or funds for it.

Then, he had “a little stroke of luck.” His parents’ union contract provided tuition support for an online associate’s degree at Eastern Gateway Community College, lowering the cost of attendance to $2,000, which Goehausen believed he could afford. The program normally takes two years; he did it in eighteen months, and paid for it himself.

“I got that done a little quicker than I needed to. I was…getting things out of the way, checking off that box,” he said.

He managed it by squeezing the program’s online classes into seven-day, double workweeks.

Goehausen would be at his first job at 8 a.m. and work a five- to six-hour shift, followed by a food server shift from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. On weekends, and on weekdays when he did not work server shifts, he would work as a line cook.

“During all that jumbled mess of having jobs,” he would complete two or three online classes at his own pace. “That was a little rough bit … [I’m] through that now, thankfully.”

After working off the $2,000 in tuition, he took a break.

He reassessed, and decided to make two changes: he would move into a new place with roommates, and go back to school to train for a career in the skilled trades.

“I like tinkering with things,” he thought. “I like problem solving, and it kind of seems like a good fit.”

Back in high school and while studying for his associate’s degree, Goehausen had looked into transferring to a four-year university after community college to complete his studies as an engineer. Originally, he wanted to attend the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech.

However, “even after having my two years done at community college, I was still looking at spending about 60 to 70 grand,” he said. Looking at the starting salary he could expect, “the numbers didn't make sense to me. I just didn't want to shoulder myself with all that debt.”

Then, his dad brought up the Mike Rowe Scholarship.

The award provides $20,000 to cover the costs of training to enter a skilled trade, sponsoring programs lasting two years or less. Applicants must submit a video introducing themselves and provide two references, which can be from a current or former employer.

Goehausen decided that if he received the scholarship, he would go to trade school. He was interested in HVAC, a field with a retiring workforce offering stability, flexibility, and a projected job growth of 8% by 2034 (twice as high as the average), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Goehausen submitted a video explaining his background, including his job at Soup Love, which he had seen grow from a small business operating out of the house of its owner, Amy Markman, to its current brick and mortar store.

Goehausen was doing prep work in the store’s kitchen when his phone screen lit up. He had won.

“I opened my phone up, and I was kind of jumping up and down,” he said. “Oh my goodness. Just seeing the dollar amount. I was like, holy…”

He was “very surprised” that he had received such a high award. “But then I was like, ‘Oh man, I gotta get this over the school and get started.’”

Tidewater Tech has rolling admissions, and he was able to enroll soon afterwards. He worked out a schedule with Markman, who was very supportive.

Goehausen is currently specializing in cooling and refrigeration systems and preparing to earn his certificate. Eventually, he hopes to earn a journeyman’s license, which allows more flexibility and offers higher pay.

“I just like to get stuff done, and it makes me happy that I've been able to get this far on my own,” he said.

His advice to other students is to take responsibility for going after opportunities.

“There are opportunities out there, but you really have to be the one to motivate yourself and get it done. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink … You can always have these opportunities presented to yourself, but you have to be the one to execute it and go after it.”