Graduate Connections – Meet Erin ‘Dan-E’ Gossett

Erin, 20, from Jacksonville, Alabama, completed the Professional Welder program at Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville in July 2023. Erin prefers to go by her middle name, Danelle, or Dan-E.

 Thanks for your time, Dan-E. Did you enroll at Tulsa Welding School straight out of high school? 

I went a few months after high school in 2022. I had a hard time finding housing out down there because TWS doesn’t have dorms or anything, so it took me a little while to get out there. [Note: check out EduRent]

Where did the idea of welding school come from? 

I actually started welding in eighth grade. So, I’ve been welding for close to five years, welding in classes that we had in school. I took an agriculture class, and then I went to a career tech high school in my county.

Did you know in eighth grade that you wanted to be a welder, or were you just playing around?

I think it was around then that I realized I’m good at it, and it’s what I enjoy doing. I have really bad ADHD, so welding is the one thing that keeps my attention and focus. There’s so much that goes into it, so when I am welding, I’m completely focused on it.

How was moving out of state on your own at 18?

Jacksonville, Alabama, to Jacksonville, Florida, is a seven-hour drive. It was very different. I moved out during my senior year of high school and started living on my own, so living on my own wasn’t new. It was just the distance. It was very different. At first, I felt very lonely because I didn’t have any friends or family out there, but school did eventually help out with that a lot.

Did you look at local welding schools?

I had a full ride scholarship to a welding school in my county, but Tulsa Welding School is where I wanted to go to, so I declined it as soon as I got the call back from Tulsa. A recruiter came down, met me immediately, and then I completed my application, and I was officially committed to Tulsa. Tulsa Welding School is where I wanted to go since about 10th grade.

Why?

My career tech teacher – Mr. Peterson, we called him Mr. P – honed my love for welding. He’d worked with Tulsa Welding School for a few years and always talked about how great it is. I looked into it and really thought it was the school for me. I also wanted the experience of living somewhere else for a while.

What did you enjoy most about your time at TWS? 

It took me a while to get into it because I had a lot going on, I was stressed. I talked about this in my graduation speech, but I was trying to pull myself out of a hole, bring my grades up. I started going to school from 10:00am to 10:00pm. I enjoyed the fact that I could come in for as long as I wanted to, and when I did come in all day, I could ask any teacher for their help. If this teacher’s welding technique didn’t click with me, does another do something differently that I could try? It’s trial and error with welding. Not everybody welds the same.

You spoke at graduation? Congratulations!

Yes, I was a Student Ambassador, Student of the Quarter, and I was a speaker at graduation.

What were the difficulties you mentioned? 

I was having difficulties back home, as well as the fact that I was really lonely at school. I let that take over. I was only going to school for my required time – I did the afternoon class – and then I spent the rest of my time by myself. I didn’t know anybody; I didn’t hang out with anybody. I started seeing my grades drop. I passed the first two phases [classes] easily because it was what I’d done in high school. But I had to rephase Phase Four twice. Once I had to go home to deal with some stuff back there, and the other time I just wasn’t getting stuff done.

What changed to help you break out of that? 

A teacher, Chris, finally came up to me and asked, “Okay, what’s going on because you’re not doing well? What can we do?” I explained everything that was going on and he said, “Okay, we can work with that. This is what we’re going to do.” We came up with a game plan. I started coming in early so I could get some extra tutoring. After that I decided that if I could stay longer, I could get more experience. So, I just dove into the program completely, like headfirst, for the last few months. That’s when I started going in from 10:00am to 10:00pm. 

I started participating in just about every event the school had, to the point where Student Services asked me to be a Student Ambassador. I was at every event, everybody knew me, everyone had seen my face. I started tutoring other students. All of that helped me. When I started getting more involved, my grades went up because I was excited to be there, I wanted to be there. That’s what hurt my heart the most. At that point I’d already flown through most of my time at TWS. So, I only got that true experience for a short time, just the last two or three months. I wish I had jumped in like that from the start. 

Good for you for finding a way out of the funk you were in, for not quitting.

I was raised to be a very determined person, to never quit anything, to try my best at everything. I also felt like I had a point to prove. There were things that happened when I was in high school that meant I wasn’t allowed to walk at my graduation. So, that was a motivation to do better at TWS than I did in high school. And when my teacher Chris reached out to me, it seemed like he really cared; I felt I wasn’t alone. I felt like I had support. He talked to me, and then I talked to the Campus President, Michael Cole. I spoke to him about everything. I also talked with Student Services. They all put in more than enough effort to make sure that I had everything I needed, and that I had the support I needed.

So, after all that adversity, where are you working?

I work for Huntington Ingalls in Pascagoula, Mississippi. I have to specify because they also have a shipyard in Virginia. I’m building Navy ships!

Congratulations! How did you get the job?

A lot of companies come to TWS to try to recruit graduates to work for them. So, I’d watched a presentation for them, but I didn’t take a test the first time they came in. When they came back a couple of months later, I’d been practicing for their test. I went and watched their presentation again and spoke to their recruiter. I was looking at them because it was the job with the most benefits, that was close enough to home so I could go visit. It just lined up very well, I felt this might be the job for me. I took their test and did pretty well. They hired me as a fourth-class welder; I think entry level welder there is like sixth class. 

That’s awesome! This was all before you graduated.

Yes, as soon as I graduated, I already had a job confirmed. The TWS Career Services people, like Tracy, are great. Their job is to help you get your résumé done and to start deciding what kind of jobs you’d like. Then they encourage you to go ahead and do applications and take weld tests before you graduate, so that when you do finish school, you already have somewhere to go. You don’t want this transition period where you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know where I’m going now.” I introduced myself to Career Services about midway through the program, and then later we started having meetings and working on my résumé.  

Are you happy with the money you’re making?

Oh, absolutely. I make quite a bit for my age, I make more than a lot of people in my family, just because of the career choice I made. I was able to afford a two-bedroom apartment, and I live by myself. That should tell you that I make a decent amount of money, and with benefits too. We get really good health insurance; they make sure that we have sick pay and PTO. They really do take care of us here.

What’s your career plan from here?

This is a steppingstone. Shipyards are a great place to get experience. The first year I plan on doing structural welding, but for the second year I plan on changing my craft and doing pipe welding. I can make that change here. I do enjoy the benefits, but it’s not particularly what I want to be doing as a welder. I’m still trying to find out what that is because there’s so many different types of welding jobs. I’m still looking and actively trying to figure out what fits best for me. Even now as a graduate, I still get job opportunities sent to me by Career Services at TWS. The end goal is to be able to settle down and have my own fabrication shop, but it’s steppingstones to get there. Having everything planned out is key to getting to your goal.

What do you enjoy most about this new trade? You mentioned earlier about the focus it gives you.

I think that would definitely be it. I know it’s a very basic answer, but it’s one thing that most welders have in common: when you drop your hood, there’s nothing but you and your weld, you and the metal. There’s no time to think about anything else. There’s no possible way for you to be thinking about your weld and do it correctly while thinking about what’s going on at home, or with your kids, or your parents. When you drop your hood, it’s just you and the weld. It’s a very freeing feeling.

I know you struggled at first, but did you make some friends at school, people you stay in touch with? 

Absolutely. I have several people that I still talk to this day, especially from the Women in Trades program that we had. It was a meeting we had once a month. Women from the welding program, the HVAC program, any TWS program, would have lunch and discuss things that we were dealing with. Sometimes we’d have special guests; women who had already graduated would come in and speak to us about their experiences in the field. I think that’s where I gained a lot of my friends. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

What advice do you have for a student to be successful at Tulsa Welding School? 

Take advantage of the ability to come in more than required. You can become a decent welder coming in for your five hours a day, but taking advantage of the time that you have, that is what’s going to make you a great welder. That’s what’s going to push you from good to great; spending that a little extra time. If you have the time, wherever you can find it, spend it in the shop, welding. 

If you’re a TWS graduate and would like to share your success and be an inspiration to others, please email [email protected] to be considered for a Graduate Connection interview. Please include details such as your graduation date (month/year), program, and campus name (Tulsa/Jacksonville/Houston/Dallas).