Aila Webster

I’ve always wanted to weld, I mean, who wouldn’t? I first saw it in movies, where actors with big masks and bright arcs were welding gigantic masterpieces. In reality, my journey of learning welding has not been climactic or elegant. I joined the robotics team in my freshman year, and I could already tell that I didn’t exactly fit in. I had barely any experience, and I was one of the only girls on the team. My main role on the team in my first year was machining. Learning the mill, lathe, and various saws was like learning how to read again. I had an amazing mentor who taught me how to use all the machines safely. Once I had the main machines in my tool belt, I set my sights on the welding table.

The table was rusty and red, and hadn’t been touched for over five years. A state-of-the-art ventilator hung above the janky welding station, reminiscent of previous remodeling of the machine shop. I was set on welding despite the station’s visual appeal. The issue was that no one on the team knew how to weld, except the team mentor. But he had barely welded before, and was constantly busy.

These roadblocks set the scene for how the next two years of my welding journey would go. I learned from books and YouTube videos, rather than someone in front of me. And there were many long hours of adjusting the argon output and trying to get a straight line of dimes. Despite severely not knowing what I was doing, I figured out how to TIG weld steel very well. Aluminum was very different. 

The frustration of not being able to weld correctly took away the initial joy I felt from stacking beads and learning a new skill. I think that perfectionism was what almost made me abandon welding altogether. Metal splattered, arcs collapsed, argon tanks ran out, and my skin was burned. After a long winter of struggling and burning holes through my pants, I went back to the basics. I learned more and finessed my steel welding, and we outfitted the table with new materials and supplies. In the offseason, I worked on a welding project that was actually fun for me, and I felt my spark (or arc) returning. Though the fear of getting burned again is always in my mind, I’ve found that welding is becoming joyful again.

So even though I’ve stepped back from welding to focus on design and my own components, I’ve learned a lot about myself. Going into the next offseason, I’m looking at welding again as something that I love to do.