Page 20 - HIWT Spring 2016 World of Welding

Light From Darkness: (continued from page 19)

I began at Skyline on May 5th 2014 and hit the ground running. Wednesday, March 2nd 2016. We shall see how it goes. The best
Literally. For the next six months I would experience everything from thing I’ve learned about retesting on a position (and I’ve had 7 of
being harnessed to the beams of 50 story buildings along Miami them over the 4 skill classes I’ve taken thus far) is so much learning
Beach with tons of steel flying through the air attached to cranes, has occurred by the time you do it again. The reward is more. Hard
learning to operate forklifts, man lifts, super booms, line saws, to explain, you will just have to come to school and see what I
material handling cranes, OAW cutting processes...even being mean.
severely reprimanded for bad decisions.
A week ago I walked back into the very first class room I was in
One of those lessons was learned in early October 2014. Beams down in the oxy acetylene shop, blueprint reading. It was emotional
can’t be cut and then re welded and erected if the plans call for in its own right and very nostalgic. Felt like years have literally
complete sections. Doesn’t matter if they are too tall to erect. That’s passed. The smells are totally different and remarkably transportive.
the fab shops issue. Not yours. Call and report it to your superior.
Cool, got it for next time. If you took the time to read this far you’re not asking why any of this
matters, because you get it. I wrote and shared my story for you.
Sadly, that episode was the beginning of the end for me but as John There are a million other things I could have done on my Saturday
would confide later, “was part of the process. You were bound to off, from standing on my feet all day, burning rod after rod, watching
make a mistake that I was going to have to cut you loose for, but the puddle, with sore knees and pinhole burns on my neck from
that’s the life comin up in the business. You will be fine.” week 3 of 5G pipe. You matter to me, and I want you to succeed.

I came out of that experience committed to becoming a welder with HIWT is here to help
tools that would be in my proverbial “tool box” of familiarity in the
not so distant future which was to include HIWT. If you’re a veteran and you’re on the fence, lost and don’t know
what to do, thinking that welding could be a good path for or is
In September of 2014 Paul , feeling that the kind of work he was intriguing... get back in the fight. Come see the school and come say
doing compared to the amount of time that he invested in his hello. Hobart has the staff that understands your situation. There
education was no longer a good fit for him departed Skyline. He are good people here and equally good students. Vets just like you.
quite literally packed up his car as his carriage and made his way We are a team and nobody gets left behind even if that means
west like a modern day pioneer for work in the oil and gas sector of having to retake a class.
the Permian Basin in West Texas. In the last 20 months Paul built
his rig, and his ambitions into Apex Contacting Group, a State of Next. resources are available. If you need help and haven’t done so,
reach out to your local VA PCT team and communicate. They can’t
Texas service disabled veteran owned company with new contacts help you if they don’t know you exist. The Iraq and Afghanistan
for general services steel erection and welding in the El Paso area Veterans of America are available 24/7 and are another great
literally every week. resource. You can find them at IAVA.org

In May of 2015 after a very serious phone call with him, he basically For those of you who have a service connection and you are
laid it out for me. Come to Texas and help me build this thing. Get supposed to be doing things for nerves and anxiety (you guys know
to Hobart. Get the certs. Help me help you and other vets was the who you are) and you aren’t doing them? You are wrong. You can’t
guiding principle. Let’s build it so we can help other vets. come to HIWT with shaking hands because the darkness, followed
by aggravation will creep up again, you will struggle here, get
I hung up the phone, and made 2 more calls after that. I called frustrated and the process and training will test your limits. I and
HIWT and spoke with Lindsey Magee, arranged for a visit in August, other vets have already tried the path of avoidance, and it doesn’t
contacted the VA Chapter 31 vocational rehabilitation program work. The doctors are smarter than us.
officer at the Miami VA and had my program approved about
6 weeks later for a 26 October 2015 start date for the 9 month The best part of all of this though? You are going to be fine no
program. On 21 October, I and my loyal companion Harry, a 7 year matter what you choose. Just breathe and the world will turn.
old Jack Russell Terrier headed North on Florida I-75 for Ohio and
the next great adventure on the road to reintegration. Cool thing about welding is its only dark for about a second, and
then the powerful glow of the arc leads the way.
Here and Now
Never stop following the Arc. You have one inside you as well. Even
I just finished week 16, getting ready to head into the final week of when it’s on the bottom one must stay focused and follow it to the
what is called the 2G/5G pipe course with the exam scheduled for top.

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