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Students Find Welding Careers through High Steel University

High Steel University has begun to develop relationships with local schools. We've gone out and tried to cultivate these relationships to help them fulfill our business needs. We need to help them understand the types of processes and the knowledge that we need in students when they come in here.

As an instructor, my goal is just to make sure they all have the proper information and the proper skills to maintain a good job.

High Steel actually came into my school and spoke to us. They're the only company that actually offered a summer program, which I thought was amazing.

They came to my school looking for—especially young kids—they come looking for people and it showed initiative and it showed that they care about the people that they have working for them.

Some of them come from city and some of them don't have any experience at all. So it's kind of nice knowing that they're getting a whole new career where they can be successful and have a good income and steady work.

Since I've been working here over the summer at High Steel, I've learned a lot. I've learned how to work as a team with other people. And I think that's something that not a lot of high schoolers maybe get to learn out in this career field.

I'm learning how to take what I've learned so simply into a small school and like expand it on a broader level, like the things we build here are way, way, way bigger than what we can even fit into our shop at school. So, I'm learning how to weld on a bigger scale and also how to work in the industry like in real life.

High Steel University is a great program because we all work together. Not only I have six co-workers that are mainly up here. They get them their qualifications, get them all their skills. That way they have everything before they get in the shop and they've qualified.

Me being only a high schooler, I'm welding on things that are being shipped to New Jersey and Maryland to be put on bridges. And that's really amazing to me because a lot of high school students don't get this opportunity.

The shop experience is so important, mainly because they get all the training from the senior employees. All the tricks, all the I mean, the fundamentals of it and how to actually build the girder, which is eventually going to be a bridge. While working in the shop, I've been given the opportunity to be assigned to these large projects and be allowed to work on it by myself. Since being here, I've learned how to do this and I feel comfortable doing it, and that's really the big wow moment for me.

I love the fact that everybody's willing to help each other like I'm still learning, and some guys are very close to retirement. So, they've been here for a very long time and they're willing to help me in any way possible. And that's what makes a good team helping each other, and I really, really appreciate them helping me.

I'm beyond grateful to tell you the truth. I'm beyond grateful to work with someone as young as me and to take the time to train me and to allow me to work with them and to experience the field like this. It's a lot to ask for, but they were more than willing to do it for me. It was very heartfelt to know that they care so much about the students and their employees, and that's why I'm just so grateful for it.