A Northern Lehigh High School student has been recognized for his performance in the Skills USA National Competition.

Superintendent Matthew J. Link recognized junior Brayden Arnold at Monday’s school board meeting for his work at the Skills USA National Competition.

Arnold took second place in Marine Service Technology in national competition after finishing first in the Pa. Skills Competition.

Arnold said Skills USA helps students get into the workforce.

“I just had fun, tried my best,” Arnold said. “And I walked out with a first, I was shell-shocked; I had no idea I was going to do that.”

That qualified Arnold for the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

“It was really cool just to see everybody down there,” he said. “I met all these different people.”

“I still had no idea how I was going to do,” he said of the national competition. ”I just went and had fun.”

Director Gary Fedorcha lauded Arnold for his diligence.

“Marine part of the program is not really taught directly, and you took it upon yourself, along with the teachers, to be able to get the knowledge that you took,” Fedorcha said. “So when you went and competed with both the state and the national, you were competing with students who had full marine programs, but you yourself kind of taught yourself.”