Meet a young technician: Luis Perez

Luis Rosas Perez left a 17-year career in construction to pursue his childhood dream of working on Harley Davidson motorcycles. This Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (MMI) student in Phoenix shows it's never too late to follow your passion.

Vehicle Service Pros is partnering with TechForce Foundation to share profiles and perspectives of young automotive technicians who are in the early days of their careers. These students were asked: "What is one skill you would like to master?"

Perez is 37, and says, "I'm betting on myself for the very first time and have left a long career in carpentry and construction to pursue my passion for Harley Davidson."

His motorcycle passion began early. "My passion for motorcycles started when I was 7 years of ag. We lived by a flat track racetrack in the city of Stockton, California. Mom would take me to the track and we would admire the bike races and watch a group of Harley riders. The smell and sounds of the roaring engines consumed me."

Family responsibilities delayed his dreams. "Fast forward to 2012. My mother passed away from cancer. As the oldest of three children, there was no more time to be a kid or adolescent I had to work hard alongside my father and help my family in every way possible. Dreams just did not seem important or possible anymore."

His father's final encouragement changed everything. "Before the bad things happened and our lives went upside down in a tragic loss of a parent, we had a heart to heart. He asked if I was happy doing the line of work that I had been doing. The answer was a simple, 'No.' His response is seared into my heart like a cow being branded. He said 'Go for it! Without fear, my son!'

Now Perez lives that advice. "So here I am on a strict budget eating top Ramen noodles (with) engine oil smudged hands and knicked knuckles. I'm living the dream and excited for the future tech I aspired to become."

The skill he most wants to master is "the service manuals. To be able to navigate and understand and follow procedure is important to me as it is to my future customer whose life and safety belongs in my hand. I will always remember failing at putting my father's weed whacker back together. If only I had instructions or something in writing to help me navigate."