“If it wasn’t for Workshops – if I never came here as a student – I would never in a million years be able to afford this house for my wife and son. I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Rossi Patterson was raised by a single mother in New Haven, CT. They moved from place to place until she met the man who would become Rossi’s stepfather when he was five-years-old.

“Those two have been the biggest inspiration in my life. My stepfather always told me, ‘You have to work hard, and you have to excel at what you do,’” Rossi said. “I saw my mom go from working at KFC to becoming a nurse – she started going to nursing school when I was eight. She saw it as a way to make more money and better herself, mostly for me over anything else.”

Rossi learned responsibility at an early age. “My brother was born when I was 12-years-old. My parents were always working to provide for the family, so I helped care for my little brother when they couldn’t.”

An all-around athlete in high school, Rossi played football and ran track, and was even Junior and Senior Class President. After high school, Rossi played football at Southern Connecticut State University; he was a starting player his sophomore through senior years.

“I wanted to go pro. I saw that as a way to pay back my family. But as I got older, I realized that I didn’t have a lot of the physical attributes of pro players. I had no idea what I wanted to do.”

After graduating with his Business Management degree, Rossi wanted a change, so he moved to Denver, CO on a whim. While in Denver, he worked as a bartender and server at Olive Garden for four years. “I was great at it. Before I started that job, I thought I wanted to open my own restaurant, but decided it wasn’t for me after working in the industry.”

Unsure of what to do next, Rossi found inspiration in friends and family members who had served in the military. “I saw how they travelled the world without spending a dime, meeting new people. I also saw the benefits they had when they became veterans.” He joined the Navy in 2014.

Rossi was sent to Camp Pendleton where he became a Religious Program Specialist, charged with protecting the Marine Corps Chaplain. “He couldn’t carry a firearm, so my job was to keep him alive if we got deployed.” When asked how he felt about the job, Rossi said, “I loved it.”

After four honorable years of service, Rossi decided to leave the Navy. He landed an internship at a machine shop in Irvine, CA through one of the Navy’s transitional assistance programs. “I was a Talent Acquisition Specialist Intern,” Rossi said. “As I was looking at resumés for the machining candidates, I thought, ‘I could do this.’” He started visiting the machine shop to learn about their processes and how he could become a machinist. Then, one of his fellow interns recommended Workshops for Warriors.

“As I looked more at WFW, I thought, ‘I should go there,’” Rossi said. He officially transitioned out of the military on April 8, 2018 and immediately enrolled in WFW’s Summer 2018 machining class, which began April 30, 2018.

“It was challenging, because even though I was math guy in high school, 15 years later, I wasn’t using it anymore, so I was not a math guy anymore. But as I was going through the course, I got really good at it.”

Rossi attended WFW’s career fair near the end of the semester where he met representatives from Solar Turbines. “I received a job offer from them, and I took it. They paid me very well, right out the gate.”

Soon after starting his new career as a machinist with Solar Turbines, Rossi bought a townhome. In 2020, when Rossi was newly married with a one-year-old son, he came back to Workshops for Warriors to work as a Machining Instructor.

“Now I’m here, and I love every second of it,” Rossi said. When asked how it feels to help his fellow veterans learn new skills and earn careers after graduating from WFW, Rossi said, “That’s the best part.”

“I tell the students, ‘What you put into this program, you’re going to get even more out of it. What you learn here is going to be the backbone of your career,’” Rossi said. “As Teaching Assistants and Instructors, we make sure we back up our word by helping to uplift our students.

“My story gets even better,” he said. “I just sold my townhome two weeks ago and bought a house on a quarter acre in Winchester. I’m extremely grateful.”