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 back closer to home after earning a job as the Airport Manager at Sidney Municipal Airport. Plus, Lapaseotes and Jon Leever – his former instructor and current WNCC Aviation Maintenance instructor -- began operation of their joint venture L & L Aviation out of the airport, too.

Now, instead of working behind a computer, Lapaseotes doesn't know what his day will bring. Some days it's working in the shop. Other days it's fueling, checking, and storing airplanes. And sometimes, it's assisting customers during their stop in Sidney.

"It's a little of everything, which is kind of cool," he said.

This story was first published in the "Western," Western Nebraska Community College's magazine.