My name is Zander Rogers, I am 18 years old. I am currently attending Savannah High School and our local technical trades school for welding. In June of this year, I will be attending Missouri Welding Institute to become a certified welder in pipe and structural welding. (We all need gas or a building to stay dry in) I was 12 years old when I started to get interested in forging and my curiosity grew from there. I am interested in this trade because I fell in love with it five years ago. I was helping my dad with a welding project on the farm. After building a gate for my dad I just kept wanting to weld more and more projects on the farm which has also led me to do welding through our local 4-H club as a project. I have fallen in love with joining metals together and seeing a functional project. In my high school vocational welding class we are learning how to read blueprints, welding symbols, the difference in types of metals and welds, using MIG, TIG, stick, and flex core welding methods. I am also learning how to cut with plasma, carbon arc, oxy-acetylene with this knowledge it will help me succeed in furthering my education at Missouri Welding Institute I have prided myself in providing quality work that has led me to have several jobs for people in my community building equipment attachments, livestock feeders, custom table legs, and several other welding projects. I am currently employed to design and build an entry gate for a driveway that will span 18 feet with an automatic opener. All my work has come from word of mouth and the quality of workmanship. My ultimate goal is to go into the trade as a welder in Alaska or Texas working in the oil field industries. I have come to this future path while talking to my dad since he was in the oil industry for 20 years. Telling me stories of the oil field got me very interested in wanting to go experience it for myself. I feel that welding could lead me anywhere even if one industry slows down I can move to a different industry. Welding will always be in high demand. The industry I am planning on going into requires the highest standards to details and I am just the person for that job. I take pride in everything I do, if it is not to my standards, I will start all over again; I do not stand for low quality work Welding takes my mind off of what is going on in my life and in the world. It takes me to a place of enjoyment where I just put my hood down and burn rod. It is like my Zen place. It relaxes me and makes me feel good. When I get done with a project and stand back to see what I have built I feel accomplished and successful. I hope you consider me for this scholarship as Welding has became my life. I spend more time with my hood down then I do with anything else.

1) After graduating high school, I will be attending the Missouri Welding Institute in Nevada, Missouri to further my education in the welding industry. My start date is June 9, 2025 Welding takes my mind off of what is going on in my life and in the world. It takes me to a place of enjoyment where I just put my hood down and burn rod. It is like my Zen place. It relaxes me and makes me feel good. When I get done with a project and stand back to see what I have built I feel accomplished and successful. 2) I plan on welding in the oil and gas industry in Alaska or Texas. I do prefer Alaska as we lived there for 7 years, and it is the place I like to call home. 3) On May 10, 2023, I was at school when I got a call from my mom telling me my dad was taken to the hospital from a work-related accident. I did not know what had happened, but she came and got me and my little brother. When we got to the hospital, we found out that my dad had been working on an RV when it had fell off the jacks crushing him. At this point I was not sure what would happen or if he was even still alive. After waiting for what I thought was a lifetime the doctor came out and told me and my brother we could go see him. When we got to the room I had to turn around and leave because he was not my dad. His face was all red from all the blood vesicles breaking, his eyes were swollen shut and he had so many wires and tubes hooked to him I could not bear looking at him. My dad's boss was there and took me and my brother back out to the waiting room where he explained to us what was going on. Several hours later I mustered up the courage to go visit with him. Although he could not see me, he could hear me and that was a plus in my book. Over the next several month's he could not do much, I had to step up and take care of the farm and all the chores around the house. My mom was a total wreck, so I became the man of the house until my mom and dad got back to normal. Looking back on what had happened made me think of what I would do if my dad or mom ever died. I know now that I would be able to take over responsibility's and take care of my little brother and the farm. With this life changing incident, I still need to do most of the heavy lifting around the farm and keep an eye out for what my dad does to make sure he does not fall or get hurt. I think this has made me a stronger person in the respect that life could change in a moment's notice and there is only the time you have with your family.

After graduating high school, I will be attending the Missouri Welding Institute in Nevada, Missouri to further my education in the welding industry. I was 12 years old when I started to get interested in forging and my curiosity grew from there. I am interested in this trade because I fell in love with it five years ago. I was helping my dad with a welding project on the farm. After building a gate for my dad I just kept wanting to weld more and more projects on the farm which has also led me to do welding through our local 4-H club as a project. I have fell in love with joining metals together and seeing a functional project. Some of the examples of things I am currently doing and have done during my high school years that require these types of skills are fixing my dad's blown-up truck, making a heavier duty hay unroller to feed the cattle with, and fence line feed troughs for the livestock. I created several skid steers attachments, repair a feed gravity wagon, and several 4-H welding projects. I designed the heavier duty hay unroller, skid steers trailer adaptor, spray boom, fence line feed troughs, and my personal welding table by drawing up the blueprints. I am currently in the process of making an entry gate for our farm to be installed at the end of my parents' driveway. I plan on graduating High School, going to Missouri Welding Institute for my trade school with a start date of June 9, 2025. I will be living in campus dorm rooms that simulate a man camp in the oil industry. I am going to be learning Master Pipe Welding and Fitting and Structural Welding while attending Missouri Welding Institute. While attending Missouri Welding Institute I will be working at Tractor Supply where I am currently working. My ultimate goal is to go into the trade as a welder in Alaska or Texas working in the oil field industries. I have come to this future path while talking to my dad since, he was in the oil industry for 20 years telling me stories of the oil field got me very interested in wanting to go experience it for myself. I am currently in a high school vocational welding class learning how to read blueprints, welding symbols, the difference in types of metals and welds, using MIG, TIG, stick, and flex core welding methods. I am also learning how to cut with plasma, carbon arc, oxy-acetylene with this knowledge it will help me succeed in furthering my education at Missouri Welding Institute along with the connections my dad and school has to place me in the oil field industry. I have talked to some of my dad's friends that are still in the oil field industry, and they have guided me to continue my pursuit of welding and start applying for jobs when I start trade school.

My name is Zander Rogers, I am 18 years old. I am currently attending Savannah High School and our local technical trades school for welding. In June of this year, I will be attending Missouri Welding Institute to become a certified welder in pipe and structural welding. My junior year of high school, in my welding class, we were assigned to build a project in a group. I was placed in a group with two other kids that were not quite as knowledgeable with the project. My teacher asked me to guide them through the project. The first thing that we did was sit down and go over the safety rules in the shop. One of my most important rules is safety. My dad has always pushed the safety topic on me saying, "You have a family to go home to, so, be safe". So, after we discussed the safety rules, we started by having the other two students show me how they would build the bench by drawing up blueprints. With all the blueprints drawn up we set as a group and discussed on what would work and what would not. I let both students give input on each blueprint. After we decided on how we were going to build the bench we drew up the final blueprint. We then went to the shop and got our safety glasses and cut gloves on. Went to the steel rack and pulled the steel we needed. We then took it to the band saw. I showed them how to set the saw up and use it. After showing them, I had them cut all the pieces to spec off the blueprint. When all the pieces were cut, we went over the safety of welding and what would happen if we welded without a hood or gloves. I told them they would need to put their hair up so it would not catch on fire while they were welding. I showed them how to start the welder and weld the bench together. After we were all done, we sold the bench at the fund raiser for the new classroom at the local community trade school. I was proud of the two students as they learned a lot and was more confident in designing and building something from scratch.

I was 12 years old when I started to get interested in forging and my curiosity grew from there. I am interested in this trade because I fell in love with it five years ago. I was helping my dad with a welding project on the farm. After building a gate for my dad I just kept wanting to weld more and more projects on the farm which has also led me to do welding through our local 4-H club as a project. I have fell in love with joining metals together and seeing a functional project. My ultimate goal is to go into the trade as a welder in Alaska or Texas working in the oil field industries. I have come to this future path while talking to my dad since he was in the oil industry for 20 years, telling me stories of the oil field got me very interested in wanting to go experience it for myself. The industry I am planning on going into requires the highest standards to details and I am just the person for that job. I take pride in everything I do, if it is not to my standards, I will start all over again; I do not stand for low quality work. I have prided myself in providing quality work that has led me to have several jobs for people in my community building equipment attachments, livestock feeders, custom table legs, and several other welding projects. I am currently employed to design and build an entry gate for a driveway that will span 18 feet with an automatic opener. All my work has come from the word of mouth and the quality of workmanship. I also attend high school, Vocational tech school, and have a part time job working at the local farm and ranch store. I was a co-captain of our men's varsity swim team; I am the Treasurer for our local 4-H club and County youth 4-H council. The person that I admire the most is one of my dad's friends. His name is Ira Houseweart he is a 2-time Forge in Fire champion. He has shown me what hard work and good commitment can accomplish. Ever since the day my dad took me to his iron shop, and Ira showed me what he could do with steel, I was hooked. When I have an issue that is not working for me, I can call him up and he usually will tell me what I am doing wrong but does not give me the answer to the problem. He will make me work through the struggles and figure it out on my own. This is what I like about him, he makes me find the solution to the problem, so I do not forget the next time.

I think success is something that gets the job done and to your highest standards. My success depends on my ability to make procession cuts and welds as it will affect more than just me and my project. The industry I am planning on going into requires the highest detail and I am just the person for that job. I take pride in everything I do, if it is not to my standards, I will start all over again. I do not stand for low quality work. I have prided myself in providing quality work that has led me to have several jobs for people in my community building equipment attachments, livestock feeders, custom table legs, and several other welding projects. I am currently employed to design and build an entry gate for a driveway that will span 18 feet with an automatic opener. All my work has come from the word of mouth and the quality of workmanship. I also attend high school, Vocational tech school, and have a part time job working at the local farm and ranch store. I was a co-captain of our men's varsity swim team; I am the Treasurer for our local 4-H club and County youth 4-H council.

After graduating high school, I will be attending the Missouri Welding Institute in Nevada, Missouri to further my education in the welding industry. I was 12 years old when I started to get interested in forging and my curiosity grew from there. I am interested in this trade because I fell in love with it five years ago. I was helping my dad with a welding project on the farm. After building a gate for my dad I just kept wanting to weld more and more projects on the farm which has also led me to do welding through our local 4-H club as a project. I have fell in love with joining metals together and seeing a functional project. Some of the examples of things I am currently doing and have done during my high school years that require these types of skills are fixing my dad's blown-up truck, making a heavier duty hay unroller to feed the cattle with, and fence line feed troughs for the livestock. I created several skid steers attachments, repair a feed gravity wagon, and several 4-H welding projects. I designed the heavier duty hay unroller, skid steers trailer adaptor, spray boom, fence line feed troughs, and my personal welding table by drawing up the blueprints. I am currently in the process of making an entry gate for our farm to be installed at the end of my parents' driveway. I plan on graduating High School, going to Missouri Welding Institute for my trade school with a start date of June 9, 2025. I will be living in campus dorm rooms that simulate a man camp in the oil industry. I am going to be learning Master Pipe Welding and Fitting and Structural Welding while attending Missouri Welding Institute. While attending Missouri Welding Institute I will be working at Tractor Supply where I am currently working. My ultimate goal is to go into the trade as a welder in Alaska or Texas working in the oil field industries. I have come to this future path while talking to my dad since, he was in the oil industry for 20 years telling me stories of the oil field got me very interested in wanting to go experience it for myself. I am currently in a high school vocational welding class learning how to read blueprints, welding symbols, the difference in types of metals and welds, using MIG, TIG, stick, and flex core welding methods. I am also learning how to cut with plasma, carbon arc, oxy-acetylene with this knowledge it will help me succeed in furthering my education at Missouri Welding Institute along with the connections my dad and school has to place me in the oil field industry. I have talked to some of my dad's friends that are still in the oil field industry, and they have guided me to continue my pursuit of welding and start applying for jobs when I start trade school. I think the adult would say that I am hands on, hardworking type of person who enjoys the challenges. He is a help in the community, is an avid participant in the local 4-H Club, volunteers for local charities, is a go to guy helping other learn when he sees them struggling. He has always helped when asked without complaint and sticks with the job until it is complete. He will ask for help when he needs and is a team player. He is self-motivated in life and the jobs he takes on.