Page 11 - HIWT Summer 2011 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

ONE SUCCESSFUL LIFE AT ’

A TIME Here s to the
heroes and

their loyal
By Neil Mansfield

I recently had a conversation with several welders, fabricators, sidekicks.
pipe fitters, and small business owners from the New England
region, when the topic turned to the next generation of With your powerful skills and our
metalworkers. These comments ranged from good to bad. As
I read through some of the emails I receive, like many other innovative products, nothing can
metal fabricators and instructors, I was surprised and down- stop us.
right shocked to hear that some of the young adults graduating
out of trade schools are not exercising sound judgment in
welding, fabricating, and metal shop safety.

It is upsetting to me and it is totally unacceptable! Either the
student was not paying attention in class or the shop teacher Rob and his
had over looked the importance of shop safety. Most likely the loyal sidekick,
student was not paying attention. I would like to respond by the XMT 350
®
saying that there are both exceptional and marginal students
in every trade program in our country. But if you say a young
adult is marginal, what does that really mean?

In the past 11 years of teaching welding and metal fabrication at
Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School, I have had
some extremely challenging young adults that frustrated me,
upset me, and down right got me angry by the day’s end.

However, I never gave up on them. I always tried to keep
an even keel and develop an approach that included sitting
down, talking to them, listening to them, reasoning with them,
and in the end, mentoring them to think differently. I find the
young adults now in their 20’s still come back to school after
their work schedules to seek advice, get recertified in welding,
obtain employment recommendations or just bring a cup of tea
by and say hello and talk about how their lives are progressing.

Some of these young people as students could have
absolutely driven you crazy! But through our encouragement

and a “never give up on them” attitude, they begin to think No weld job is too dif cult, too daring, ]
with an open mind and consider how to move their lives [ or too daunting for this dynamic duo!
forward as they mature into honest, safe, decent craftsmen
who are willing to listen and learn on the job. They each MillerWelds.com
become happier in their lives.

As school graduations come and go, I see how many of the
former students have moved their lives in a positive direction,
with a sense of participating in community service
projects, employment in the welding trades, attending technical ®
colleges, or enlisting into the armed forces as welders. It The Power of Blue
comes down to a simple phrase: One Successful Life at a
Time. (Continued on page 20)

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