WNCC Faces of Excellence

George Lapaseotes was sitting behind a computer dreaming of a different life.

"I kept thinking, 'This isn't what I love or what I want to do every day,'" Lapaseotes said. "So I sat down and decided to do something with aviation."

Specifically, Lapaseotes, who would accompany his uncle on flying trips frequently as a kid, decided to enroll in the Western Nebraska Community College Aviation Maintenance program.

"The instructors made it fun, too," he said. "It wasn't just a sit in class all day and do a worksheet."

Following graduation in 2013, Lapaseotes took a job in Lincoln, but soon moved...