EMCC Welding Student 1Submitted photoMegan Traweek is enrolled in short-term Workforce welding classes at East Mississippi Community College and plans to enroll in January in the two-year Welding and Fabrication Technology program.  

MAYHEW – Nineteen-year-old Megan Traweek adjusted her welding helmet and touched a metal rod attached to a shielded metal arc welding machine to the metal plates she was joining together. A brilliant white arc of light shot from the welder as hot metal was deposited into the seam Traweek was working on.

This was Traweek’s last night in the first of four short-term Workforce welding modules she is taking at East Mississippi Community College. In June, Traweek, who resides in Starkville, arrived at EMCC with no high school diploma and uncertainty about her ability to succeed in college.

“I was scared to death,” Traweek said. “I had no idea if I would be able to pass anything or not.”

Traweek enrolled in the MI-BEST program, which allowed her to work concurrently on her GED and enroll in the Manufacturing Skills Certification program.

Since then, she has been awarded her State of Mississippi High School Equivalency Diploma and earned a Silver level on the WorkKeys test. In January, she plans to begin work on an Associate of Applied Science degree in EMCC’s Welding and Fabrication Technology program.

“Megan has done a lot in a very short period of time and excelled at everything she has attempted,” EMCC Adult Basic Education Director Jim Bearden said. “She is very motivated.”

Grant funds through MI-BEST, Mississippi’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program, are paying for Traweek’s Manufacturing Skills Certification classes. A GED Workforce scholarship is funding her short-term welding classes.

Traweek had a good idea about what educational path she wanted to pursue. Her father is an automotive mechanic and from an early age she enjoyed helping him work on the family’s cars.

“I love working with my hands,” Traweek said. “I couldn’t just sit somewhere and do paperwork all day long. I wouldn’t be happy with it.”

She has always been interested in welding and is taking the short-term welding courses to make sure the field is one she enjoys. Traweek said she made the right choice.

“I love welding,” Traweek said. “It is precise and everything has to be absolutely perfect. I like to be challenged with everything I’m doing and welding is a constant challenge.”

There was one thing she did not expect: “I was surprised at how OK I was with sweating so much. I am able to stand there and weld with these sparks flying and sweat all over my face and I’m just fine with it.”

Adjunct Welding instructor Billy Snider said Traweek is a good student.

“She listens and she asks questions,” Snider said. “You tell her what she is doing wrong and she tries her best to correct it. She wants to learn. I think she will be a very good welder.”

Traweek hopes to work at a manufacturing plant after she completes her associate’s degree. Someday, she might open her own shop.

“I would love to go into to the arts side of it, building custom fire pits and metal gates,” Traweek said. “I have always liked drawing and painting but for me that isn’t permanent. If done correctly, you can weld something and it will last forever.”

For more information on the MI-BEST, GED or Adult Basic Education programs at EMCC, call the ABE office at (662) 243-1985.