Roadside Assist: Chantilly Academy Automotive Student Helps a Driver in Need
It’s one of the scariest things to happen to any driver: a sudden, unexpected issue with your car forces you to the side of the road. In that situation, the best-case scenario is often a professional diagnosing the problem after a potentially expensive tow to the nearest garage.
This recently happened to one woman in Chantilly, but she was at the right place at the right time when her car broke down. A Chantilly Academy student was right there, equipped with the skills needed to help her get moving again.
On Sunday, April 13, Om Desai was driving into Point Pleasant to meet with family when the woman in front of him suddenly slowed down. At a glance, she seemed okay, and Om started to pass by her. “So I made a left,” he recalled, “and I looked in the rearview mirror and I saw that she turned her hazards on and pulled over. So I turned around and rolled my window down, and asked her, ‘Is everything okay? Is there something I can help you with?’ She said, ‘I don’t know, I’m just a little scared here.’”
Om, a senior at Chantilly High School, takes the Auto Collision and Auto Technology classes offered at Chantilly Academy . Both classes offer students hands-on instruction in a working garage. Knowing how a car works is also something that Auto Technology Teacher Samuel Little says students can use to help others in certain situations, such as knowing whether or not a garage is being honest with you. “That’s the whole objective,” he said. “At the beginning of the school year, before we start, I tell [my class] that my end objective is that you could teach others; I want you to teach others.”
Om managed to do just that. In an email to Chantilly High School leadership, driver Elizabeth Mulenga described her harrowing situation and how Om taught her something on the side of the road that April day: “I explained to him that my car was jerking and I was too scared to drive further,” she wrote. “He opened up the hood, looked around the engine, and informed me that the issue was most likely an ignition misfire. I did not even know what that was, he educated me.”
Om said he knew it was a misfire as soon as Elizabeth turned the ignition. “I opened the hood and started troubleshooting,” he recalled. “Mr. Little taught us some tricks to check a misfire without using our big tools, so I narrowed it down. It was a cylinder four misfire.” Om drove to his uncle’s house nearby to borrow a tool to pinpoint the diagnosis, and that tool also confirmed it was a cylinder misfire. “I was amazed that the equipment provided a diagnosis confirming the issue he had already diagnosed using knowledge he acquired from Chantilly High School’s Auto Technology program,” remarked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth didn’t feel comfortable driving the car with the broken cylinder and asked Om if he could fix it himself. Om agreed. “He quickly figured out the parts I needed to fix the issue and drove his car to a nearby store and bought the parts,” she wrote. “He refused to take any money for the labor.” As soon as Om installed the part, he asked Elizabeth to step on the gas, and she could tell right away that the problem was solved.
Elizabeth explained how much Om’s kindness and selflessness impressed her. “Had Om not stopped to help, I would have waited longer only to be towed by my roadside assistance, as they are usually not able to fix mechanical issues,” she wrote. “The kind kid must have spent about three hours of his quality family time helping me, a complete stranger.”
Om’s instructors back at Chantilly Academy were equally impressed when they heard the news. “I was very, very happy and very pleased that he was able to use his talents to help somebody out,” said Little. “These days, a lot of people don't even help, and no one even stops by, and he went out of his way.”
As Om explained, learning how to fix cars is only half of the lesson taught in his Chantilly Academy classes. The other half is learning interpersonal skills necessary for working in a commercial garage. “Mr. Little has covered everything from electrical, steering, drivetrain, everything, and we also learn how to talk to customers, telling them what we fix, how we fix it, what can be done to prevent things like this in the future,” said Om.
The lessons Om learned in the garage support each pillar of Fairfax County Public Schools’ Portrait of a Graduate : students like Om are learning how to be better communicators , collaborators , ethical citizens , creative and critical thinkers , and goal-directed individuals .
As Om demonstrated, that classroom lesson is becoming known in the Chantilly area, from the community members who bring their cars to the garage at Chantilly Academy, to drivers like Elizabeth, who are grateful to have helpers like Om around. “I am so proud of how your program is transforming and equipping your students to not only enhance their skills, but also positively impact lives beyond the classroom,” she wrote.
