In the local area and beyond, you can find HFM Career and Technical Center graduates working in just about every industry and career field. The CTE Alumni Spotlight will introduce you to some of our many graduates highlighting the pathways made possible by their education and training.
Meet CTE alumni Zachary Ropeter
A 2018 Johnstown graduate, who completed the Cybersecurity & Computer Technology program at the HFM Career and Technical Center, Zachary is now in his final semester completing an early bachelor’s degree in Network and Computer Security and already has his foot in the door in his chosen career field.
Zachary Ropeter in June 2018. Ropeter completed the Cybersecurity & Computer Technology
at HFM and is set to graduate college early thanks to the credits he earned at the CTC. He intends to pursue a career in IT.
Zachary is a senior at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica and this summer started working at the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) in Albany as a Network Operations intern. As part of the Network Operations team, he helps maintain the NYSIF network infrastructure, and his work includes vulnerability patching, network device upgrades, meeting with various vendors for potential network upgrades/products and everyday maintenance and network connectivity issues.
Zachary is set to graduate early from college thanks to the credits he earned while at HFM and is looking forward to pursuing a full-time career in the IT world in just a few months.
He says the Career and Technical Center helped put him ahead of his peers and gave him a competitive edge when seeking internships that bolstered his resume. He credits HFM for helping him find what he was passionate about and what he enjoyed doing.
“Making the decision to attend the CTC was one of the best choices I made in high school, and the topics I learned are still relevant to this day,” Zachary said.
Zachary said besides the technical skills learned in a given field, students who attend the CTC benefit professionally and personally, regardless of the career they pursue.
“The lessons and information taught at HFM BOCES CTC are priceless,” Zachary said. “If you choose to enter the career field you study at CTC, you won’t regret the time spent. But regardless of what career field you pursue, at the CTC you will still learn practical skills and how to better yourself in any working environment.”
