As she slipped on the thick, yellow gloves and placed the heavy, black industrial helmet over her head, senior Emily Hassett was instantly transferred into her “own world.”
The small, dark tinted window in the helmet clears her peripheral vision so she can only focus on the thing in her hand — a 10,000-degree Fahrenheit welding torch.
“[Welding] creates a one-on-one scenario so you can focus on your art and nothing else,” Hassett said.
Growing up, Hassett has always had an interest in engineering. Whether it’s oil changes with her dad or building her own gaming computer at just 14-years-old, she has always had an attraction to anything industrial.
Hassett started welding seven months ago. She attended a three-hour intro to welding class with one of her close friends, senior Lilly Rogers. At the class, they learned about different drills, hammers, torches and basic welding techniques. According to Rogers, Hassett was immediately interested in the craft and mentioned wanting to continue with it in college.
Since then, she’s been taking classes at least twice a month at Hammerspace Workshop in downtown Kansas City. Hassett has attended around 20 of their classes such as advanced welding, silversmithing basics and design welding.
She’s never loved the idea of a traditional four year college. The “extra courses” like math and English make it harder for her to focus on her passions. After watching her two older sisters come out of college with student debt, Hassett veered towards community college or trade school.
“You can get just as good education from community college or trade school,” Hassett said.
She’s deciding between Johnson County Community College next fall, or the Arc & Flame Center in Rochester, New York — a trade school that offers workshops, night courses and professional training courses. Hassett’s planning on spending the next two years in trade school to get her masters in welding with an additional year to get certified for an underwater welding degree.
Underwater welding is a more strenuous and dangerous job. It requires a SCUBA license and specialized equipment. The risk of electric shock, lethal explosions and, according to mahonefirm.com, the 15% death rate make it one of the most dangerous jobs. The $54,000 average starting rate for underwater welders is more attractive to Hassett than the $37,000 average pay rate for regular union welders. Because of the risk, she is very scared to start the job.
But fear’s not the driving emotion, excitement is. She’s ready to put her helmet back on and weld her own world.