Learning A New Skill

The next day Pinkie Pie was getting ready to go to her class, she was a bit nervous but she knew that she wanted to try this, she got dressed and went to the class, when she got there she saw that she was early, she checked in and entered the empty classroom.

She sat down and looked around at the large room and saw the booths in the back, she was pretty nervous to get started but she tried to calm herself down so that she wouldn't panic about the class.

She knew that in a few minutes she would be greeting other classmates but she didn't focus on that as she needed to focus on doing well in well in her class, she folded her hands together and patiently kept them on her desk as she waited, soon other student came in talking to eachother but she paid no mind to them, she knew that she liked making friends but she needed to focus on work for now.

"Well hello and welcome to room 305 and thanks for picking this coarse, my name is Diamond and I will be your instructor now before we get started-" Diamond was about to say but Pinkie Pie cut her off.

"I met your sister the other day! She's the receptionist!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, the other students chuckled and she blushed but Diamond just smiled.

"Yes, me and her have been here for a long time and we try to help out as many students as we can." She said as she smiled.

"Sorry for interrupting you, that was rude of me..." Pinkie Pie said as she was ashamed of herself.

"That's alright Pinkie Pie just next time let me finish what I was saying before making a statement, Alright hon?" Diamond asked, Pinkie Pie nodded and Diamond smiled and continued to speak.

"As I was saying before we get started we need to first talk about the classroom rules, raise your hands if you have questions if you need to speak, also please come here on time, if your late then get a late pass and have an excuse for why you were late, also we are going to jump right in." She said.

Pinkie Pie saw the teacher hand out class textbooks about welding, she wondered if she would really need it but was grateful to get one anyway, she wondered how she was going to do in this class. She was so nervous.

"These will be your guide books, it has sections on the different types of welding...and about different test plates but we will get into all of that later, first I want touch on the subject first.

Pinkie Pie listened to her teacher talk about the history and dangers of welding and as she listed the risks Pinkie Pie started to doubt her career choice. The teacher even mentioned something known as arc eye which can happen to someone's eye if they expose themselves to the light of the arc.

"Technically the symptoms are mild itching, it will feel as if you have sand in your eye but as time passes the itching does get worse, if this happens you must seek out medical attention and you will be prescribed eye drops so you can use them to lower the pain in your eye, the eye drops are to try to numb the pain for a limited time, during the time you have it you must make sure to wear sunglasses until your condition gets better and you even might have to stay in a shaded room until your condition improves, if this happens here then come tell me immediately!" Diamond exclaimed.

This condition scared Pinkie pie, she would make sure to wear her welding helmet at all times at the proper shade which is what her teacher started to describe next, Pinkie Pie knew there was a lot to welding but didn't know it had this much detail, the teacher also started to talk about fire safety which Pinkie Pie expected her to talk about, finally Diamond summoned them over to a stick welder.

As Diamond began to talk about the different currents and settings the machine had Pinkie Pie couldn't help but wonder how Diamond got interested in welding, she knew that she would have to ask her that later, eventually Diamond instructed everyone to get their welding jackets on, Pinkie Pie sighed with relief that she bought steel toed boots before the class started as she wouldn't have been able to weld to day but at the same time she was a bit on edge.

Diamond them summoned them back over to the booth, and she talked about the different types of steel that was usually welded with and began to talk about the different stick electrodes and how to strike an ark, Pinkie Pie lost track of time as the teacher technically stayed on the subject of electrodes for at least ten minutes finally she told her students to put cover their faces and Pinkie Pie almost missed her say that but covered her face just in time for the teacher to strike an arc.

Pinkie Pie watched as the teacher stick weldrd by consistently dragged the electrode in the forming puddle while talking about the pool and Pinkie Pie realized how much went into welding, she didn't start doubting her choice but she did doubt herself, she knew she was going to screw up but she decided to try anyway.

Soon the teacher finished and talked about it a bit more and then sent the students to each of the booths, this is where Pinkie Pie started to hyperventilate, she grabbed a few electrodes and a piece to weld on as she tried to calm herself down but she was to scared, she tried to remember back to what the teacher did with the molten pool as she knew she needed to replicate that.

She put her gloves on and turned on the machine, she realized that the welder was on the setting it was supposed to be so she didn't need correct it so she was grateful for that but she was still nervous, she heard the other students already started to weld.

She closed the curtain to block the UV rays and then looked at the piece, she then lowered her helmet to shield her eyes and then tried to strike an arc. It took her several tries to get an arc going, as her electrode kept getting stuck, luckily she remembered how the teacher taught them how to pull the electrode away, she twisted and pulled it free.

She took a deep breath to calm her ragged breathing and then tried again, she got it stuck but wiggled it free and cursed to herself in frustration, she then tried one more time and finally she got an arc going, at first her arm was really shaky but she lowered her the electrode closer and let the molten puddle form and then slowly moved the electrode.

She was surprised that it didn't take her long to do it as she was sure that she was going to end up taking a few minutes trying to get an arc struck but she was pleased to get one going, she welded for a bit and she took a break and cleaned the plate, she looked at a poster outside for reference on good welds and saw that she needed more work at it but she was glad that she got one going.

She tried it again, she got it stuck a few times but tried again and then had to replace the electrode, she tried once again and got another one going, this time she had a half decent arc going so she was proud of herself for that. She tried it a few more times and then class ended

When she put her stuff away and went home. She would have to see how she did tomorrow.