After working for five years with the U.S. Navy Seabees, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, Sarahmarie Mason of Bothell, Washington, chose to come to Hobart Institute for the Combination Structural and Pipe Welding Program.

“To get the training I wanted would have taken four years if I had remained in Washington,” says Sarahmarie. “I began looking on the Internet and the Hobart Institute web site popped up right away. I immediately saw that the G.I. Bill was accepted and, after checking with a few people who confirmed that Hobart was the place to go if you wanted to learn more about welding, I was ready to pack my bags and drive to Troy.”

“It has always been my belief that if you are going to go to school, you might as well go to the best,” Sarahmarie continues. “And that’s why I came to Hobart.”

Sarahmarie went into the Navy right after graduation from high school and served on a rescue and salvage ship based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii following basic training. She soon joined the Seabees and went to the Navy welding / steelworker school in Gulfport, Mississippi, and then to Port Hueheme, California. Sarahmarie did a lot of welding with the Navy steelworkers on the base in Sigonella, Sicily, welding three miles of security perimeter fence of galvanized steel.

Growing up with two older brothers, Sarahmarie is comfortable in the predominately male environment of the welding world and her military training has also taught her to be independent. She has experience supervising others and was responsible for the Navy steel shop in Sicily.

“I enjoy working with my hands,” says Sarahmarie. “I also enjoy doing girly things, like cooking and making quilts for friends.”

“When I finish at Hobart, I want to go back to the west coast and work in pipe welding. I enjoy the pipe welding classes,” Sarahmarie continues. “They are definitely challenging.”