Wednesday, January 29, 2025

John Arias (far left), Randy Rivera (far right), and their class of third year, second semester Low Voltage apprentices smile for the camera as they celebrate their collective, timely successes with the California Voice Data Video and California Fire Life Safety Technician certification exams.

WECA kudos are in order for John Arias and Randy Rivera's current third year, second semester Low Voltage Apprenticeship class: this class enjoyed a timely 100% pass rate on their California Voice Data Video and/or California Fire Life Safety Technician certification exams!

WECA is immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of these Low Voltage apprentices.

Randy attributes the apprentices’ collective successes to many factors.

“I would say that the third year, first semester content does a great job of prepping students for the exam,” says Randy. “There are also many tips that I gave my students to be prepared, such as using the whole time allowed, triple-checking their answers in the NEC and OSHA books, and using the process of elimination in their answers.”

However, Randy also mentions that success was ultimately up to the apprentices themselves.

“You can have all the resources in the world, but you have to commit yourself and take the time to soak up all the knowledge you can get before you take the exam. The more you study, the easier the exam gets. All I ask of students is to put in the work,” says Randy.

Some apprentices—such as Jayden Tucker-Murphy and Burton Richards—concur but also were quick to assert that their success was due to a collective group effort to learn and succeed.

“As a class, we were all on the same page and we helped each other take studying seriously,” says Jayden.

Burton says, “The factor that contributed most to my success was communication with my classmates and Randy. I asked for help if I didn’t understand something, or asked Randy for stories of his experiences or details to help further explain difficult concepts.”

Beyond that, Jayden and Burton also offered up plenty of tips for other apprentices to emulate and achieve their success.

“My number one tip is to study and study hard, make sure you understand your book and how to navigate it,” says Jayden. “And practice, practice, practice—practice your test on a timer!”

Burton, meanwhile, says “My advice for students taking the exam is to spend time looking up a variety of topics in publications available to you during the exam such as the NEC, memorize the specific sections most pertinent to your exam topic, schedule the exam during your normal daily waking hours, get plenty of rest the night before, take as many practice exams as possible, drink plenty of water, and to answer the questions you’re most confident in first, then go back and answer the questions easily found in the books during the exam, then answer the most difficult questions, and then finally go back and answer any remaining questions left during the time you have remaining.”

Congratulations, everyone, on your achievement! Your work ethic has paid off and will continue to serve you well in your careers. We also appreciate Jayden and Burton for sharing their tips for success.