Blaine William Cecil, a 2006 graduate of Swartz Creek High School and Genesee Area Skill Center (GASC) in Michigan, receives the United Auto Workers – General Motors HRC Scholarship to attend Hobart Institute of Welding Technology.

“I have been interested in welding since I was eight years old,” says Blaine.  “I took a tour of Hobart Institute and knew this was the place for me.  I feel that I will be able to progress and learn more at Hobart than anywhere else.”

“Blaine will not stop until he is the best!” says Stephen Lee Powell, welding instructor at GASC.  “He is the best I have ever had in my program.”

“I am the only person to ever be taken on as an independent study with an advanced curriculum at GASC,” Blaine explains.  “There is only a one-year program at GASC and I was accepted for two years.”

Blaine’s brother holds certification in pipe welding and has influenced Blaine, who says, “I would like to either do sheet metal or pipe line welding and iron work, but I would like to be well-rounded in all fields.” 

Blaine is enrolled in the Structural and Pipe Welding Program at the Hobart Institute and is expected to complete his training in June 2007. 

“This has been a dream of Blaine’s for the past several years,” says Mary Otero, Blaine’s mother.  “He purchased a used welder and welds around the clock in the garage.  This is his passion and it shows.”