I have been a welder for Giles County High School since the 11th grade. I worked with eleven other people in the shop. We have had some tough situations in the Welding shop. Some people may think welding is easy for me, but it depends on the situation.

In the beginning of the welding program, all eleven of us had to do a lot of bookwork before we could use the welding machines. It took a while. As soon as we were done we would be able to start actually welding. It took me the longest because I'm a slow learner. I was so excited to weld for the first time. I was far from good at the time. Four or five weeks later we started a new welding rod called 7018 that was a lot easier than 6010.

Now I'm a senior in high school doing mig and 7018. We haven't been welding because everyone has been working on other things like, fixing a dump truck or cutting metal with the piranha. Everyone recently started something new called tig. To me, it is a wired version of 7018. I definitely came a long way from when I started and I'm grateful for the teacher I have and those who helped me along the way.

After graduation, I plan on going to Hampton, which is on the other side of Virginia. I'm going over there for multiple reasons. A big reason is to see my Dad more often than I already do. Once I'm there I plan on working at the Hampton Naval Shipyard as a welder. That's the place where my Dad works right now and I'm hoping to see him more while working there. Just thinking about it gets me excited for the future.