Over the course of my seventeen years of life, I have considered multitudes of different careers including animal nutrition, veterinary technician, doctor, etc., but none of these careers have sparked an interest in me like welding has. With my family owning a small hobby farm, I have been given the opportunity to show livestock starting around the age of four. Throughout the years of farming and exhibiting our bred and owned shorthorn and shorthorn plus cattle, sheep, and market hogs, I have learned how my time, effort, and dedication can make a difference in the long run. I was first exposed to the trades when my dad got a job as a commercial roofer in 2014. Over the last twelve years, I have seen his career progress from building roofs to now, where he is working on the service crew fixing roofs as a foreman. Seeing his development through hard work and a willingness to learn new skills proved to me that my effort can make a difference if I put in the time. My brother also followed the career path of going into a trade when he attended Northwood Technical College (then Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College) and received a technical degree in welding in 2020. Watching my brother's career development and the opportunities he received by going into welding sparked an interest in my mind. I dreamed of being an animal nutritionist until I saw just how unrealistic that career path was for me. During my sophomore year in high school, I looked deeper into the opportunities a trade provides, and welding clicked for me. During my junior year, I took Welding I and Advanced Welding and realized that I was good at it. In the winter of 2025, I applied to the Welding Academy at New Richmond High School in the winter of 2025 as was accepted that spring. Unfortunately, the program was canceled due to the welding instructor seeking new job opportunities outside of the New Richmond School District. I was devastated, but I didn't give up and searched for other ways to continue to learn the skills needed in welding. I am currently a teacher's assistant for my Technical Education teacher in his welding classes, where I have opportunities to learn to operate CNC plasma cutters and continue to expand my skills through practicing my MIG and stick welding techniques. Throughout my time learning the processes of welding, I have learned that I also enjoy teaching other students. Being given the opportunity to be a Teacher's Assistant, I have realized that teaching something I am passionate about to others comes easily to me. Eventually, I have hopes to become a welding instructor at a technical college in my area, where I can continue to impact the welding industry and youth interested in pursuing a welding as a future career.

My older brother went to college for welding in 2019, and the experience of seeing his career bloom made me start thinking about what I want to do when I get older. At that time, I was only in fifth grade and had a lot of time to think. As I went through middle school and into high school, I went back a forth between careers like animal nutrition, vet tech, etc, until my sophomore year. I applied to get into welding classes for my junior year just to try it out and see if I liked it. After striking my first arc and creating a weld that I was proud of, I knew that I wanted to be a welder. The winter of my junior year, I applied to a welding academy hosted by New Richmond High School in New Richmond, WI, and I was accepted into the program for my senior year. The program was taught by professors, so I would earn college credits while still in high school, which would help with tuition because I wouldn't need as many credits. Unfortunately, one month before I was supposed to start the program, it had been canceled. I was devastated, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Instead of going to the programs, I am now a teacher's assistant for my high school's CTE teacher, where I can continue to improve my skills in welding, as well as learn how to run the CNC Plasma cutter. Welding plays a very important role in our society today. It is the backbone of almost every single thing we use today like cars, airplanes, buildings, and medical equipment. Without welding, the equipment we use today wouldn't exist or wouldn't be as efficient. Although welding isn't a career that many people think of as a way to make a difference in our world, I do. Welding takes skill, precision, and time, but it also provides stable jobs for a lot of people and goods for everyone to use, from bridges to as simple as dishwashers. To me, our world flourishes because of welders. Welding is an art that comes in so many different forms, and without this art, our world would fall apart (literally). 70% of goods rely on welding, allowing for welding to contribute significantly to our economy nationally. I believe that welding will be the way I can contribute positively to our society.

As a fifth-generation farmer, working with my hands is a skill I've come to love. Between everyday farm chores, or showing my livestock across the Midwest and into Kentucky, I've learned that the more effort I put into the task at hand, the better the outcome in the long run. I fell in love with welding during my junior year of high school when I was given a welding class. Eventually, I applied to the welding academy at New Richmond High School in New Richmond, WI, and I was accepted, but unfortunately, the program was canceled for the 2025-2026 school year. Leadership is defined as the ability to guide, influence, and motivate a group of individuals towards a common goal. One such circumstance in which I recently displayed my leadership skills was during a group project for my citizenship class. Our teacher assigned our class to create a Presidential campaign in a group of 2-3. Between the members of the group, we had to create a brochure, write a speech less than a minute for the "Vice President," write a speech longer than five minutes for the "President," create pins, create a political party, as well as make a poster with our political party on it. The members of my group initially thought of the project as a joke and made little to no progress on the first few days we were assigned work time on it. I finally told them that if we don't get anything done, we will fail this assignment. I assigned them both specific sections of the project to complete, and I would go through and polish the information they found. By the end of that hour, we had finished the brochure and started on the speeches. Finally, with a lot of outside-of-school efforts from all of us, we finally finished the project as we were ready to present in front of our classmates and our teachers. We unfortunately did not win the "election," but I felt as though we put in our best efforts. In the future, if I had to redo this project, I would make sure we are making progress every day, spend more time practicing and working on the speeches, as well as make sure that I am not the only group member doing work. The group project was completed through teamwork work but I wish other members had pulled their weight.

Over the last seventeen years of my life, giving back to my community has been something I have enjoyed doing. One way I have given back is through a program called Ruby's Pantry, where, alongside other volunteers, I have helped provide meals to those less fortunate who need food to feed themselves and their families during their toughest times. Another way I have given back to my community is by volunteering to run a petting zoo at the "Light-Up the Fair Grounds" event at the Pierce County fairgrounds in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, around Christmas time. At the petting zoo, we speak to kids and adults about the animals we have (sheep, cows, goats, etc.), their purposes, and answer any other questions they may have. Seeing the kids light up with a smile on their faces as they pet and play with the animals is an experience that I will always cherish. Along with community service, I have shown livestock, including cattle, sheep, and pigs, through FFA and 4-H across Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Kentucky since I was four years old. Showing livestock is my greatest passion, and I love helping youth get the opportunity to show animals. Although showing livestock isn't a common "hobby," it has taught me so many lessons, such as perseverance, financial literacy, leadership, and emotional competence. In fact, I have applied the lessons I have learned to hold officer positions in both FFA and 4-H. Currently, I am the President of my 4-H club (the Dry Run Go Getters), where I run meetings and help to plan activities to do during these meetings to keep the younger members engaged and listening during our monthly meetings. In addition to serving as President of my 4-H club, I have also served as the Vice President of Leadership Development in my high school's FFA chapter for the past two years. I help to run meetings and plan events within our chapter to increase member involvement. Along with FFA and 4-H, I am also a part of my high school's NHS (National Honors Society) chapter, where we work to give back to our community through community service. After high school, I plan to attend a local technical college to earn a degree in welding. Eventually, I hope to take over my family's farm and continue my great-grandpa's legacy as a fourth-generation farmer. Seeing the hard work and dedication that it takes to run a successful farm has pushed me to be a driven individual who seeks to reach high and go above and beyond, even when no one else wants to. Through helping my father run our family's farm, I developed a love for hands-on work, which led me to welding as my desired career. If I were to start my own charity, my mission would be to provide fresh produce to my community by creating a community garden. I would serve my community and the surrounding communities by providing people with healthier food options and offering them the opportunity to work with their hands in the outdoors. Volunteers would plant seeds in the garden, tend to them with daily care, and harvest the produce alongside members of our community, providing opportunities to bond with others who share a drive for community service and a desire to serve others.

Working in a trade is the best fit for me. I have always been the type of person to enjoy hands-on work, and I learn best when I'm allowed to do things directly instead of watching others. I came to this conclusion after years of working with and showing livestock. I have been around livestock my whole life, and it has taught me that hard work, dedication, and perseverance ultimately pay off. I spend hours with my animals every day, whether it is to prepare for a show or for daily management, I never get a day off. Every day, I have to be alert and attentive to the care I provide for my family's livestock. If I'm not, animals get easily injured or are not provided with enough nutrition to maintain their optimal health. The lessons I have learned through the years of farming with my family have also carried over to my education. I always put my best effort forth when it comes to learning, my current GPA is 3.7, along with other college credits I have earned through agriculture classes offered by my school, which provided dual enrollment opportunities. Along with my school work, I am also in my high school's NHS (National Honor Society) chapter, our FFA chapter, where I have held the officer position of Vice President of Leadership Development for the last 2 years, and the Dry Run Go Getters 4-H club, where I have held the positions of President or Secretary since 2021. I try to take every leadership opportunity I can to help others in my community learn how to be the best versions of themselves and how they can also become strong leaders. My older brother graduated from Northwood Technical College (then Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College) in 2020 with a technical degree in welding. After seeing how this shaped his career path over the years, it opened my eyes to the opportunities I could also take if I were to become a welder. Welding had been my backup career until I was a sophomore in high school, when I delved deeper into trade careers and fell in love with the thought of becoming a welder in the future. As a junior, I was allowed to take both Welding I and Advanced Welding at my high school, and I saw the progress I made and the passion I had for welding. In the winter of 2024, I applied to the Welding Academy at the New Richmond High School, and I was accepted. Unfortunately, the program was canceled this fall for the school year of 2025-2026 due to a professor ending his career with the school district of New Richmond. I was devastated, but I knew that I could find other ways to continue my development in welding. Currently, I am a teacher's assistant for our CTE teacher for his welding classes, where I have been perfecting my skills in running CNC Plasma cutters as well as stick and MIG welding techniques. This fall I have hopes of attending a local technical college and earning a technical degree in welding.