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DREW DORRANCE EARNS
DUNLAVY SCHOLARSHIP
The Hobart Institute’s Raymond C. Dunlavy
Scholarship has been awarded to Drew W. Dorrance of
Salinas, California.
The son of Steve and Leslie Dorrance, Drew
has been around welding for many years, initially
working on simple projects in his dad’s shop.
The smoke and sparks created from the process
fascinated him in those early years.
“When I was young,
this interest was somewhat limited due to my
inability to use complex tools.
As I got older and somewhat wiser, I began to
use bigger and more efficient tools and also began
to acquire skills in the use of these tools.
When I began high school,” explains Drew,
“I added an Ag Welding class. This is when I started to take an interest in careers that
involved welding.”
After graduating
from high school in June 2002, Drew pursued welding
at Mission Trails Regional Occupational Center (ROP).
“After working with
the extremely talented instructor (Mr. Mark Neal)
and picking up quite a bit of knowledge, I decided
that not only did I want to become a welder, I
wanted to be the best that I possibly could be,”
Drew says.
Mr. John Felice,
Assistant Director of Mission Trails ROP offers this
description, “Drew’s strengths include
initiative, organizational skills and exceptional
interpersonal skills.
He has outstanding leadership abilities and
knows when he needs to take a lead role in a group
and when he needs to be a team member.”
“Drew works hard,”
says Welding Instructor Mark Neal.
“He has that rare-to-find knowledge these
days of a good work ethic.
Drew is an exceptional young man.”
Ranching has been a
big part of Drew’s life, a fact that has obviously
instilled that work ethic.
He has worked on the family ranch along with
being involved as a member of
4-H, FFA, and as an Explorer with the Salinas
Rural Fire Dept. He has excelled in steer-raising projects.
“Drew is goal
oriented,” says Mr. Felice.
“He knows how to set short term as well as
long term goals and establish the objectives
necessary to be successful in his goals.”
His current plans
involve completion of the nine-month Combination
Pipe and Structural Welding Program at the
Hobart Institute of Welding Technology.
“After that, I plan
to enroll in Santa Barbara Community College’s
Commercial Diving course,” continues Drew. “After graduating from this course, I plan to find a job
with a respectable commercial diving company doing
strictly underwater welding.
I have made my plan and am going to do what
it takes to achieve my goals.
What a simple dream and basic desires
started, self-motivation and a will to succeed are
achieving.”
Hobart
Institute of Welding Technology, dedicated to
welding training
and education excellence, is a
nonprofit educational facility located at
400 Trade Square East, Troy, OH 45373
1-800-332-9448
http://www.welding.org
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