{"id":3030,"date":"2018-06-04T15:40:37","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T15:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3030"},"modified":"2018-06-04T15:40:37","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T15:40:37","slug":"tstc-student-finds-passion-in-welding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3030","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Student Finds Passion in Welding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(HUTTO) – After working for a tree-trimming company for three years, Texas State Technical College student David Suarez wasn\u2019t quite sure what he wanted as a career, but he knew that wasn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n

He came across welding by chance at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a skid-steer at work. The bucket on it broke, and it needed to be welded,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cThe boss is the one who usually welds things up, but he wasn\u2019t there that day. His son was there, and he was welding it. He looked at me and asked, \u2018You want to give it a shot?\u2019 I said sure. And ever since that moment, I was hooked on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hutto native and now Taylor resident looked up welding colleges and found that TSTC was right in his backyard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a couple of friends, probably five or so, that went there, and they loved it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re out welding for a living, so I figured I\u2019d sign up and see what it was all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, he is enjoying his classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the people in there are super friendly and always willing to help,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cThey do whatever it takes to make sure we are all in this together and no one is falling behind. As far as the teachers, they\u2019re always in a good mood and willing to help you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Suarez has even taken up some welding projects outside of class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m not welding at school, I\u2019m at home coming up with something,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a buddy who has a 4Runner, and we go off-roading. When you\u2019re off-roading, you\u2019re bumping into trees and rocks and all sorts of stuff, so he has a bumper that he wants to fit. It has to be welded to the frame of the 4Runner, so I\u2019m going to start that project soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his free time, Suarez is a firefighter with the Taylor Volunteer Fire Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started about a year ago,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my co-workers has been doing it for six or seven years, and he\u2019d been trying to get me to join. You get to experience so much — going through the academy and getting certified through the TEEX of Texas A&M. It\u2019s always rewarding to feel like you can give back to the community and feel like you\u2019re putting your part in.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he isn\u2019t busy with school, work or volunteering, Suarez likes to spend his time outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m into fishing and hunting,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether I\u2019m searching for whitetails, doves, turkey — you just sit back and enjoy nature. You never know what\u2019s going to come out, so it\u2019s always a neat experience just having that appreciation for nature and what it has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now in his second semester, Suarez isn\u2019t yet sure what he wants to do when he graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelding can take you all sorts of different ways,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a couple of friends doing structural welding; I have a couple of friends doing pipeline welding. There\u2019s TIG stainless steel welding. I have a lot more to learn before I feel like I can make a decision on what exactly I want to do with my welding education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suarez enjoys TSTC\u2019s teaching style and recommends it to those looking for something different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn high school I had good grades, but sitting in a classroom wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing here at TSTC, the majority of the time you\u2019re hands-on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC is registering for the fall semester through Monday, Aug. 20. For more information on TSTC and the Welding program, visit tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HUTTO) – After working for a tree-trimming company for three years, Texas State Technical College student David Suarez wasn\u2019t quite sure what he wanted as a career, but he knew that wasn\u2019t it. He came across welding by chance at work. \u201cWe have a skid-steer at work. The bucket on it broke, and it needed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wilco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3032,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions\/3032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}