ODESSA, Texas — 18-year-old Odessa High Senior Diego Sanchez has been welding for three years.
"Every time I have my hood on, I go into my zone," said Sanchez, who's also a welding certified graduate of Odessa High. "I just love it, I don't really know how to put it into words."
So instead of putting it into words, he put it onto pen and paper.
"I think it's a really good opportunity for me to see how far I can go with this company," Sanchez said. "And also to see if I can push myself with my welding."
After being offered a more lucrative job offer right out of high school, Sanchez instead decided to pursue an internship with Air Compressor Solutions, an equipment supplier in Odessa.
"I chose this one because it's mainly about welding and it's what I want to do," Sanchez said. "And the other one wasn't really about welding and I want to continue my welding career."
And what better way to continue that career than learning from the professionals?
"So he's going to come in, get real world hands-on experience working on product that we're selling to customers," said Eric Timson, VP of operations at Air Compressor Solutions.
The opportunity fell right into Sanchez's lap.
"I heard about it whenever they came into the shop. They were [telling] us how the company works, how it goes and I really liked how the company sounded," said Sanchez.
Sanchez owes a lot of his interest in welding to the welding program at OHS.
"The instructors, they were really good," Sanchez said. "They teach you everything you need to know as a beginner welder, and it's really good for them to do that for us and I really feel like it impacted me to do it more."
In addition to the internship, Sanchez will also be studying welding and business at Odessa College.
"I want to go because if I can further my learning and to also further my welding because I know I can do more in welding and more in learning and that's just the path I need to go," Sanchez said.
The path he chose could open doors to even more opportunities, including being able to open his own welding business, so he can always be in his zone.
If students are interested in this welding program, they should ask their welding teachers for any opportunities.