Metallica was there when I needed it most. I had about $40 in my savings when I came to MATC. Not knowing how I was going to pay for school was stressful. Getting the scholarship made a huge difference.
Manuel Correa-Coria was running on fumes, personally and professionally.
The 34-year-old Milwaukee resident was drowning in credit card debt and overdue bills. He was working at a nursery, barely earning minimum wage. The future didn’t seem bright.
“It wasn’t the best of times for me,” he recalled.
His father, who owned and operated an 18-wheel semitruck and trailer, urged him to try truck driving.
“He was always telling me there was always so much work available, and drivers were getting paid pretty well,” Correa-Coria said. “I got to thinking about my future and decided to roll the dice.”
In January 2026, he enrolled in Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Truck Driving program. He received a scholarship from All Within My Hands (AWMH), a foundation established by the rock band Metallica to support students in heavy metal trades such as HVAC, automotive/diesel, computer numerical control machining, welding and trucking.
Thanks to MATC and the Metallica scholarship, Correa-Coria completed the program in March 2026 and soon after secured a full-time job driving quad-axle dump trucks at the Port Washington data center project.
“Metallica was there when I needed it most,” he said. “I had about $40 in my savings when I came to MATC. Not knowing how I was going to pay for school was stressful. Getting the scholarship made a huge difference.”
Correa-Coria was no stranger to MATC. In 2019, he started classes and planned to earn an associate of arts degree. “I wasn’t the greatest student and I was working full time at the same time,” he said. “At some point I got busy with work and never really went back.”
When he returned to MATC in January, he was ready to roll, said Erik Riley, an advisor in the college’s Manufacturing, Construction and Transportation Academic and Career Pathway.
“Manuel knew the traditional school experience wasn’t the best fit for him,” Riley said. “He was always in search of a career path that fit his interest of being hands-on and obtaining a skill set that put him in motion. Once he found out that we offered the Truck Driving program, there was no turning back.”
Correa-Coria got an email about the Metallica program and Riley helped him apply.
In July 2022, MATC was selected from a competitive field of community colleges across the country to receive $100,000 from AWMH, established by the members and management of Metallica in 2017. In June 2024, MATC was one of five community colleges to receive a $100,000 grant from the Lowe’s Foundation, through AWMH, to fund critical training, equipment, recruiting and wraparound services.
At MATC, Correa-Coria and his classmates trained on the new truck driving course constructed near the entrance to the Oak Creek Campus. “That track was great,” he said. “It’s so spacious. You really get a feel of how long the trailers are and how heavy the trucks are. And you can do it without the pressure of being in traffic.
“Plus, our instructors were great,” he added. “They really know their stuff.”
Today, Correa-Coria drives one of hundreds of quad-axle dump trucks moving stone and dirt from the data center being built along Interstate 43 in Port Washington. A quad-axle truck has four axles and 14 wheels, and it can haul between 20 and 25 tons.
Each weekday at 4:30 a.m., he drives to the staging lot in Milwaukee, where the trucks are parked. He inspects and prepares his truck. It takes him about an hour to drive to the Port Washington site. Once there, his truck moves loads of dirt and stone until almost 5 p.m.
“The project is immense,” he said. “One day there were nearly 200 trucks like mine working at the site.”
Even though he’s not pulling a trailer, he’s using everything he learned at MATC every day he drives. “We are very big on pre-tripping — making sure the truck is good to go before you hit the road,” he said. “I am also very good with awareness; I’m checking my mirrors every 10 or 15 seconds.”
He arrives home about 7 p.m. He eats some dinner, takes a shower, plays with his dog and goes to bed, ready to start all over the next morning. “The job makes for a long day, but I am certainly not complaining about the money I am earning,” he said. “And since I’m not home a lot, I’m not spending that much either.”
With a steady income, Correa-Coria is working to reduce his debt and try to save some money. He’s thinking about buying his own semitruck and becoming an owner-operator like his father.
“The good thing is that there is a lot of room to grow in this field,” he said. “You can go a lot of different directions and be successful.”
If you liked this story, read about other MATC Metallica Scholars:
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. Nearly 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs; and transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 45 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
About the MATC Foundation: For more than forty years the MATC Foundation has been the philanthropic partner of Milwaukee Area Technical College, supporting student success through scholarships, emergency grants, and college initiatives. With a vision of a prosperous region built on expansive access to education and economic opportunities, the MATC Foundation’s mission is to build donor relationships to facilitate private investments, removing barriers to education to accelerate careers and deliver skilled talent to the Milwaukee area. To learn more and explore how to partner with the Foundation, visit matc.edu/foundation.
About All Within My Hands (AWMH): Established by the members and management of Metallica in 2017 as a means to invest in the people and places that have supported the band, AWMH is focused on supporting sustainable communities through workforce education, the fight against hunger and other critical local services. All expenses of the AWMH are covered by the band, the board and a few special friends so that 100% of donations go to the organizations it supports. AWMH is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.