Seif Harrathi, a Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) study abroad student from Tunisia, recently won gold at the Georgia SkillsUSA competition. SkillsUSA is an organization of students, instructors, and industry professionals who support career and technical education. As members of SkillsUSA, students are given the opportunity to showcase skills they’ve learned through local, state, and national competitions.

Harrathi competed in the Internetworking competition. The contest consists of three main parts: networking design, general networking knowledge, and hands-on evaluations.  The written exam assesses the student’s knowledge of Internetworking concepts. The hands-on component demonstrates the abilities of the contestant to terminate cables, troubleshoot network systems, configure routers, switches and network hosts, and to provide customer service in a Technical Assistance Center environment. The contest is based on the current Cisco Certified Network Associate certification.

“Seif continues to work diligently with his studies in both our Microsoft and Cisco Networking academies. I believe he will represent our school and the state of Georgia very well at the National Championship in June,” said Joni Johnson, Information Technology instructor.

Sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, Harrathi attends CGTC on the Thomas Jefferson Scholarship Program’s Tunisia Undergraduate Scholarship. His student visa expires at the end of May, but he is working to get an extension so that he can compete at the national SkillsUSA competition in Louisville, Kentucky in June. If he is successful at the national competition, Harrathi could have the opportunity to advance to the World Skills competition in Brazil.

For more information on SkillsUSA, visit www.skillsusa.org

CGTC’s Summer semester begins May 19 and the summer mini-mester begins June 1. To enroll for Summer semester, log on towww.centralgatech.edu or call (478) 988-6800.