
Lyle Palm
Welding Instructor / Dean of Welding and Fabrication
United States Navy / Workshops for Warriors
United States Navy / Workshops for Warriors
Welding Instructor / Dean of Welding and Fabrication
I'm the dean of welding at Workshop for Warriors and I help vets realize a new career in welding.
I roll out of bed at 4:30 a.m. and drive up to Camp Pendleton to start my day. I teach welding for about eight hours, constantly interacting with and mentoring staff and students, and helping them work through projects and problems. Around 3:00 p.m., I drive another hour south to teach at Workshops for Warriors for a few hours, then I get home at about 9 p.m. It's a long day, but I'm extremely invested in paying it forward, helping my fellow veterans, and helping them grow bankable skills.
Here's the first step for college students
Make sure you understand what welding is: a lot of people see a video, think it looks cool, and fail to understand the hard work that has to be put in. It's going to be hot, you're going to be handling electricity and getting shocked, and it's going to be noisy, loud, and uncomfortable. If you're wired to handle all of that, this could be the job for you. But in most cases, people aren't cut out for this, and that's okay, too, as long as you don't waste too much time and money figuring that out.
"You're not especially strong academically."