{"id":3066,"date":"2013-02-19T07:49:44","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T15:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arc-zone.com\/blog\/carmenelectrode\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2013-02-25T16:54:31","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T00:54:31","slug":"still-proving-herself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Proving Herself"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding professionally for seven years. She first picked up a torch at just five years old after her dad suited her up and had her TIG weld\u00a0a soda can.<\/p>\n

\"Regina
Regina Escandon with her welding class<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But welding\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0the first thing she thought of when she started her career path.\u00a0 She worked as a cashier, a waitress, an orthodontic sterilizer, a Certified Nursing Assistant working on a Dementia \/ Alzheimer\u2019s unit, and a supervisor at a group home for children removed by Child Protective Services.\u00a0 She was bussing tables in a local diner when a girl she worked with got her interested in welding.<\/p>\n

Pregnant and in need of a career she signed up at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona where she earned her associate\u2019s degree in applied science\/ welding.\u00a0 \u201c<\/em>Tucson is a strange place to weld since the summers are ridiculously hot!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Regina\u2019s first welding job was as an ornamental and structural field welder with Alamo Steel.\u00a0 She also worked as a lab tech at Pima.\u00a0 She holds several AWS certifications (3G (vertical up) \/4G (overhead) stick and 3G\/4G Dual shield) but says \u201cThe real way to learn to be a welder is in the field.\u00a0 You start out as a shop helper then prove yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Alamo she did a lot of ornamental work:\u00a0 railings, pool fences, d\u00e9cor, security.\u00a0 \u201cI love stick welding, outside in the elements, stinger in hand\u2026.I love the smell of burning rods.\u201d\u00a0 Once she was even flown to Maui to build a railing from scratch.\u00a0 Regina says she was set up with \u201ctwo saw horses, a sheet of steel, a welder, a grinder, and a Samoan dude named Sio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regina says there\u2019s still a lot of discrimination in welding shops and out in the field.\u00a0 She\u2019s had to prove herself capable over and over, sometimes with a \u201cweld off.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIn this day and age \u2018old timers\u2019 still think women don\u2019t belong, but those same guys have been great teachers and even missed me when I moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 2011 Regina had turned her Associate\u2019s degree into a Bachelor\u2019s in occupational education from Eastern New Mexico University and now works as a welding teacher at Cholla High School, a magnet school in Tucson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese days I get a lot of parents who feel I\u2019m too young, or that a woman [welding] teacher is weird, so they must come and meet me,\u201d Regina says.<\/p>\n

From the way Regina answered my next question, \u201cWhat advice would you give your 15-year-old self?\u201d I\u2019m betting she\u2019s a great teacher:<\/p>\n

I would say to not give up. That no matter what the hurdles are, no matter how big, how scary, and no matter who stands in your way… you can and will make it as long as you jump. And if you trip\u2014get back up and jump again and again and AGAIN. Then once you finally land it, go and get \u2018er done. Not even the sky is the limit!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though she only has one female student in each of the classes she teaches, she has some advice for young women interested in welding as a career\u2014\u201cGo for it! Welding is not scary, it\u2019s super fun!\u201d\u00a0 Regina points out that women are strong enough, that working smarter, not harder is the industry rule. And at only 5\u20192\u201d and 125 lbs, Regina proves it. \u201cNo one is trying to injure themselves, so use proper body mechanics, straps, forklifts, and team lifting to get the job done.”<\/p>\n

Regina is in her first year teaching, but she\u2019s looking forward to recruiting more young women into her welding class. \u00a0And for an industry that is looking to a future with a shortage of welders, that will be a good thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding professionally for seven years. She first picked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-rosies","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nStill Proving Herself<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding as a profession for seven years. She first picked up a torch at just five years old after her dad suited her up and had her TIG weld a soda can.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carmen Electrode\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carmen Electrode\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3\"},\"headline\":\"Still Proving Herself\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-19T15:49:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-26T00:54:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/IMAG4549-1024x575.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"New Rosies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/\",\"name\":\"Still Proving Herself\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/IMAG4549-1024x575.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-19T15:49:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-26T00:54:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3\"},\"description\":\"At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding as a profession for seven years. She first picked up a torch at just five years old after her dad suited her up and had her TIG weld a soda can.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/19\\\/still-proving-herself\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/IMAG4549.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/IMAG4549.jpg\",\"width\":2592,\"height\":1456},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/\",\"name\":\"Carmen Electrode\u2122 Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3\",\"name\":\"Carmen Electrode\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carmen Electrode\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/CarmenElectrodeBlog\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/thecarmenelectrode\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/arczone\\\/carmen-electrodetm\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/carmenwelds\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/author\\\/editor\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Still Proving Herself","description":"At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding as a profession for seven years. She first picked up a torch at just five years old after her dad suited her up and had her TIG weld a soda can.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carmen Electrode","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/"},"author":{"name":"Carmen Electrode","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/#\/schema\/person\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3"},"headline":"Still Proving Herself","datePublished":"2013-02-19T15:49:44+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-26T00:54:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/"},"wordCount":652,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMAG4549-1024x575.jpg","articleSection":["New Rosies"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/","name":"Still Proving Herself","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMAG4549-1024x575.jpg","datePublished":"2013-02-19T15:49:44+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-26T00:54:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/#\/schema\/person\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3"},"description":"At 32, Regina Escandon has now been welding as a profession for seven years. She first picked up a torch at just five years old after her dad suited her up and had her TIG weld a soda can.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2013\/02\/19\/still-proving-herself\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMAG4549.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMAG4549.jpg","width":2592,"height":1456},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/","name":"Carmen Electrode\u2122 Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/#\/schema\/person\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3","name":"Carmen Electrode","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ec92cc686e696b1dce728d4d63cb5b3a413f14d83eefdcafee9718f2374faad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carmen Electrode"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CarmenElectrodeBlog\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thecarmenelectrode\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/arczone\/carmen-electrodetm\/","https:\/\/x.com\/carmenwelds"],"url":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3066"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3083,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions\/3083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}