Ohm Vyas was born in Geneva, Illinois. His father was a Director of IT, and his mother was an Ultrasound Technician at Northwestern. 

Ohm first heard of SkillsUSA Illinois from a woodworking teacher his freshman year in high school. At the time, regional qualifying events didn’t exist, and potential state conference participants took a paper test to see if they qualified for a spot. He thought it sounded interesting, so he took the paper test his freshman and sophomore year but did not qualify. His junior year, Ohm was able to participate in a regional qualifier where he was impressed by the number of attendees but still hoped to see more. He placed third in his competition and made his way to the SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership & Skills Conference. It was there that the sheer number of participants truly blew his mind. 

While at state, he was given a voting delegate ribbon to vote for the next state officers. Ohm arrived late to the voting sessions, underdressed and out of breath, just as they were taking nominations for the next set of officers. The experience resulted in him being elected State President. 

Ohm speaks fondly of his time as a state officer, admitting he’d love to still be doing it if his career and work schedule allowed for it. He believes many of the experiences he had as an officer could never have been achieved to such a degree as they were through SkillsUSA Illinois. He still cannot believe he was able to meet the Vice President of Caterpillar in his term in office! 

Ohm and his fellow officers hosted a northern regional event where they had several schools interested in opening chapters. He was told it was his job to develop those relationships, and the confidence SkillsUSA Illinois officials showed in his abilities allowed him to believe it himself. It was important to him to show the schools that the students were leading the organization and being trained and conditioned to do this well. He also emphasized that SkillsUSA Illinois helped students discover their trade aptitude so they could be confident when pursuing that trade. 

Ohm is the first to admit he has had a lot of jobs. He does, however, report he wasn’t always able to work multiple jobs successfully. Early on, he says he had one job as well as attended school and he did not excel at either. After his experiences through SkillsUSA Illinois, he maintained three part-time jobs as well as 17 credit hours in school and excelled at all of them. He attributes this change to time management skills and professional development learned through the SkillsUSA Illinois program. 

Ohm still works multiple jobs, but he is quick to thank SkillsUSA Illinois for his myriad of opportunities. He has been offered positions across many fields and believes this is the case because he is able to show well in many areas due to his interview skills, professional presentation methods, and his confidence. He has had several positions such as an internship at VIVO, an SI (supplemental instructor) position at Bradley University where he attends school, and at Makerspace where he is currently a Tier 4 employee repairing 3D printers. 

Ohm urges people to keep an open mind when learning about SkillsUSA Illinois. There is nothing wrong with saying yes or no, but the more you say yes, the more you open yourself up to learning and developing. He attributes SkillsUSA Illinois as a heavy contributor to who he is today, and he acknowledges there is still room to grow. It was he who had to decide what he wanted to do in life, but SkillsUSA Illinois gave him the knowledge and the resources to make it happen more efficiently and with a higher chance for success.

School is an excellent resource for gaining knowledge and Ohm absolutely does not discredit education. He simply sees SkillsUSA Illinois as an incredible tool to bridge the gap of learning. He says schools work to develop those hard skills to pass from class to class and to be able to complete tasks in the workforce. It is SkillsUSA Illinois that also nurtures those soft skills (workplace and personal) to facilitate the progression and opportunities to get to those careers. 

Ohm wraps up by speaking of the transferability of job skills as well at the networking and connections afforded by SkillsUSA Illinois. No matter what job a member chooses or how many changes they may want to make, the skills, training, development, and knowledge obtained through SkillsUSA Illinois will always be there for them to call on to help them succeed. That and the incredible support and networking connections made through the program open many opportunities and experiences. You find your own path – SkillsUSA Illinois will help you travel it.