The welding competition portion of the Nueces County Junior Livestock show featured several area high school students among the welders this year, including a few girls.
Even though fields like welding tend to be male-dominated, there are plenty of strong women paving the way for the evolving industry.
“I’ve been welding for four years. This is my last year in high school. Now, what I like about welding is being able to weld and kind of be good at it, I can say. But I don’t know, it’s just a different world when you’re under that hood and striking that arch. I would say my first two years in welding, it was actually pretty hard. I was always picked on but I just felt like the guys were kind of making fun of me or whatever, saying, ‘Oh, she ain’t even going to be good.’ But now, it’s like they kind of look at me and ask for help,” said Larissa Pena, Senior at A.C. Jones High School in Beeville.
The welding skills the girls learned throughout the semester will undoubtedly open doors to potential employment opportunities, empowering the young women to shape their futures.