Senior Christian Garcia checks his work on fusing two pieces of plate together. Garcia is a second-year welding student in the welding program at Wawasee High School. He’s preparing for an upcoming certification test where he will have to weld two pieces of plate together within a specific time limit.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Christian Garcia is in his second year in Ken Long’s welding class at Wawasee High School. When he isn’t in the shop, Garcia, a senior, attends Goshen High School.

“When he’s here, he’s mine; he belongs to Wawasee,” Long said.

“I saw it as an elective. Saw what I could do as a career and it looked cool,” Garica said, explaining how he discovered welding.

He quickly learned welding is actually pretty hot.

Christian Garcia, a senior at Goshen High School, is in his second year at Wawasee High School’s welding program. He thought the elective sounded cool and the trade could help him make a good living. He’s shown here at his work station in the welding shop at Wawasee High School.

“It’s just melting two pieces of metal together into one,” he explained. “Knowing you have something that’s 3,000 degrees and you’re fusing metal together.”

Garcia said what he wasn’t prepared for was the amount of book work that’s involved in welding.

“There’s a lot of science involved,” he said.

He explained when using flux, which is a mixture of various minerals, chemicals and alloy materials that protect the molten metal from contamination by oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, a magnetic field is created, which draws the metal pieces together.

Garcia’s plans are to apply to the Ironworkers Union. He’d like to work in construction. Asked if he considered marine welding, Garcia said he’d prefer to work on a high rise rather than underwater.

“We’re not just learning how to weld,” he said. “We’re learning how to fabricate, how to prep the metal before welding. It’s a great trade to get into.”

Goshen High School partners with other schools to offer its students access to Pathways’ programs. Garcia said he could have gone to the Elkhart Area Career Center for welding, but heard Wawasee had the better program. So that’s how he came to be in Long’s class. He’s currently preparing for a certification test where he has to weld two pieces of half plate together within a specific time limit.

Every year, Long’s second-year class fabricates something. Last year, it was a sculpture that was featured in the student art show.

“We’re thinking of doing a metal monkey,” Garcia said. He guessed the project would take him and his classmates about a month and a half to two months to complete.

When he’s not busy with school, Garcia enjoys spending time with family. His mom works at a local hospital, and he has an older brother and sister. He also likes to watch UFC.