锐意进取——焊接事业

《星际官方赌钱》作者:安妮·德德吉安

在21世纪初, Regina Santaniello found herself a single mom of a newborn baby and looking for a career to support them. New to Tucson, she asked a female friend, “How do you make money in this town?”

The friend’s response was succinct and surprising: “welding!“那瑞金娜怎么能学会焊接呢?? “Take welding classes at 皮马社区学院,” the friend, a Pima machining student, told her.

There began Regina’s journey from Pima welding student to Pima graduate to working in the field and then returning to Pima this fall as a provisional full-time faculty member. Her story is a testament to her dedication and to the unwavering support she received from Pima faculty and staff.

作为一个年轻的成年人, Regina was working in New York City as a waitress and taking music classes at the State University of New York. 在探望父母的时候, who had moved to Tucson in 1998 from the state of Washington, Regina “fell in love with the mountains and just the mellowness of Tucson compared to Queens.”
2001年，雷吉娜搬到了图森. 她最初找的是服务员的工作, hoping to replicate the income she had earned in New York City establishments. However, Regina soon realized, "I wasn't going to make $1,000 a week as a waitress."

She explored other career options, including becoming a certified nurse’s assistant. But her employment in nursing homes ended when she became pregnant. She was let go because her employer decided her small stature and pregnancy made her a health risk, 尤其是在搬运病人的时候.

By 2004, Regina was supporting herself and now two children as she had begun fostering a teen-ager that she encountered while working in a youth group home. She was ready for more training that would improve her financial prospects. 她向皮玛的顾问寻求指导, who helped her apply for financial aid and plan her schedule toward a degree in welding.

"When I made my appointments, they were so helpful,” Regina said. “I felt like I could ask them a million questions, and they always answered.”

Regina juggled classes, full-time work and motherhood. Pima’s flexible schedule, supportive instructors and on-campus childcare helped her manage the load.

After just a year of studies, she was able to obtain a welding job. She later became a welding lab tech at Pima and enrolled her son in the childcare center at Downtown Campus, which meant she could eat lunch with him on the grassy mall and quickly pick him up after she finished work or classes (Pima currently offers childcare at the Desert Vista Early Learning Center and has grants for subsidized childcare).

Regina earned her Associate Degree of Applied Science (welding) in 2007. 但她还没说完. Then-lead welding lead faculty Ken Bice and then-Dean Terry Forster encouraged here to enroll in the 90/30-degree program at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). She earned her bachelor’s degree in occupational education and her teaching certificate in 2011 from ENMU, with all her credits from Pima transferring toward the degree.

“If they hadn't mentioned it, I probably would have just settled for where I was,” she said.

"What Pima and this journey taught me was how to become resilient"..——里贾纳·桑塔涅洛

雷吉娜在野外工作, 在全罗高中教焊接, entered welding sales and taught welding as an adjunct at Pima. This fall, she became a full-time provisional faculty member at Pima, which long had been her goal.

“What Pima and this journey taught me was how to become resilient. It was tough but I didn’t give up because I had a support team, 尤其是在皮马, keeping me going because they kept telling me ‘you can do this,’”雷吉娜说.

当她反思自己独特的道路时, Regina emphasized the importance of humility and learning from experienced professionals in a field that is both traditionally male-dominated and skews toward older workers. Those workers have a wealth of knowledge that they are happy to share.

She advises her students to be humble and to listen more than they talk: “We prepare you to get into entry level jobs, but the welding industry will teach you how to be a welder.”

Regina especially hopes to inspire her female students by sharing own experiences. Don’t go in with a chip on your shoulder, she advises them. “这个行业的男人, given the opportunity to teach and having someone want to learn from them, 他们真的很喜欢. I have had such great teachers in the industry.”