I grew up on a farm so welding was always around me. My dad was always working on building or maintaining things using the welder. He even went and helped my uncle at his welding shop when he was really busy. When I got to high school I always choose to take shop. In shop we just messed around and had fun while our home economics teacher was really strict. So obviously I took shop. This is where I first started welding, or should I say "welding."
Our shop teacher knew very little about industrial arts and was actually hired to teach math. So we took full advantage of this and ran wild. This is when really got me interested in welding. We had in the corner, an old MIG welder that hardly worked. It also had absolutely no gas. Together me and my classmates tried to learn how to weld. Obviously, because there was no gas and we had no instruction our welds looked like shit, but it made me fell in love with welding. I signed up to complete our provinces youth apprenticeship program and spent a day working in a shop. I was hooked.
Fast forward to grade 12 I had to take a career work experience class. Which is really interesting, because with some jobs this is the only opportunity to experience them without having training because of confidentiality or safety issues. So if you have the chance to take a class like this I would highly recommend you go out and try something cool. For mine I worked in a welding shop. I was really lucky and had an an uncle who owned a welding shop who let me complete my work experience class there. This was great because I was able to comfortably enter the shop because I already knew a couple of people. As a girl, especially a young girl entering a shop as the only girl can be very overwhelming. Starting out at a place I felt comfortable was very rewarding and allowed me to gain a healthy amount of confidence.
My next step was taking my Fabricator-Welder certificate. During this time I learned two big life lessons. My instructor encouraged me to always try to be the best person I could be. He was the type of person who never made enemies and treated everyone with kindness and respect. He told me that the welding industry is a small industry and that it is best not to burn any bridges as it may impact your future. He also was big on never stopping learning. He believed in taking every opportunity to grow even if its something new or scary. This, in my opinion was solid advice and something I remind myself regularly.
After school I got a job working in manufacturing. I currently am employed as an welder apprentice and I am working on getting my journeyperson in welding. I am in school right now taking my level two and taking this opportunity to network and grow my skills. In the next little bit I am hoping on getting some specific tickets, starting a fabrication apprenticeship, gaining confidence and working on my leadership skills.