Welding offers students a direct path to career readiness. Kelly Fields teaches welding at Nixa High School and noted many benefits to selecting a career or education in the trades.
“Job demand for welding is higher than most college degrees right now,” Fields said. “It costs one-fourth to one-third the cost of what it is to get a college degree.”
Besides the cost, a career in welding or other similar professions can provide flexibility and more personalized work structures.
“You can travel, stay home – you can really do anything if you’re not fixed to anyone – you can go all over the world with hands-on, vocational type careers,” Fields said.
Applications in the world outside of a career can also provide extra utility, sophomore Alexa Tapprich said.
“It’s good to be able to fix things on your own, like trailers,” Tapprich said. “If anything needs to be welded together of if anything gets broken at any point – like farm equipment for example.”
Seeing one’s hard work and effort can be rewarding and fulfilling.
“When you go into trades, you can immediately see your results and what you’ve done,” Fields said. “There’s that satisfaction of seeing both what you’ve done that’s improved somebody else’s life and what you’ve accomplished.”
All occupations can present different drawbacks to different people.
“There are some aspects of any job, the negative parts, that you need to learn if you can handle,” Fields said. “Welding is going to be a lot of different conditions, from hot to cold, wet to dry. It’s pretty physical on your body so if that’s an issue, it wouldn’t be for you.”
Learning a hands-on skill can be daunting when first starting out. Sophomore Emma Polk is in NHS’s welding program this year.
“It was kind of hard at first because [Fields] had to help me, and obviously it’s fire melting stuff, so it’s scary,” Polk said.
Students in the welding class at NHS are still learning the basics during the beginning of first semester.
“We’re able to get more creative with the projects soon, but right now we’re just practicing,” Polk said. “I feel like [finishing a project] would be a bigger achievement when I get better but right now it’s fun to practice.”
What welding students are learning right now is only the start of their journey into learning the skill.
“Everybody has the same basics, but then there are some areas where everybody can kind of make it their own whether it’s welding, construction or anything that you do,” Fields said.
A skill such as welding not only provides practical knowledge and ample career opportunities but also carries sentimental value for students. Knowledge of the craft can be passed down through many generations.
“My grandpa was in the Air Force and he would help with welding helicopters,” Tapprich said. “My grandfather plans on teaching me more of the basics before we go into it next semester in [agriculture].”
Family was also Polk’s reason for her interest in both the class and the craft.
“My dad builds bridges so he has to weld and other stuff like that,” Polk said.
Welding can help to promote creativity and growth, encouraging students to explore their artistic and technical abilities throughout the learning process.
“I give them time to figure their way through stuff because there’s no right or wrong. Mistakes are part of the learning process,” Fields said. “See what you can figure out and how you can improve whatever you’re doing, even if it’s not the norm.”