A pair of Career and Technical Education (CTE) students will head to Atlanta on June 1 to compete in the nation’s largest job skills competition.

Welder Wyatt Strobeck and aspiring industrial electrician Ryan Gurdyal will bring their knowledge and skills to the big stage at SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference June 1-5 in Atlanta. They will be among more than 6,500 state champions from across the country competing for national gold, silver and bronze medals in 114 skills and leadership competitions.

“It’s going to be cool to compete on a different level with people from all over the country,” said Strobeck, who attends BOCES from Middleburgh. “I am looking forward to seeing how I do against everyone else.”

Gurdyal, from Schenectady, has equally high anticipation about the competition.

“I am excited because it’s my first time going to Atlanta. It’s something out of my comfort zone, but it will be fun,” he said.

Strobeck and Gurdyal won their events in the New York State SkillsUSA competition in Syracuse in April, earning the right to advance to the national stage. The national competition is the largest gathering of America’s future skilled workforce and the ultimate recognition of excellence in career and technical education, with more than 19,000 attendees, including students, instructors, industry partners, government officials, administrators and more attending.

“I was a little nervous, and then when I heard my name called, it was like holy cow,” said Gurdyal about the win.

For Strobeck, winning has become old hat this year.

Besides winning the SkillsUSA state championship, he also was part of a team that won the American Welding Society Thruway Cup this year and, in the process, won or placed in the top three of all individual competitions that comprised that event.

With that in mind, Strobeck said he is looking forward to going to Atlanta to “meet new people and just seeing how well I do at that level.”

SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school and college students. The organization promotes personal and professional growth and offers students the opportunity to compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. The organization also promotes giving back to the community, which locally results in collections each year for food pantries and city missions.