Outstanding Students

Avery Tauke

Q: Where are you from? (city, state) 

A: Earlville, Iowa 

Q: Why did you choose Kirkwood? 

A: I chose Kirkwood because I heard they had a good program and offered a two-year course in Advanced Welding Technologies when schools closer to home were only ten months not covering as many competencies. 

Q: What is your major and how did you choose it? 

A: My major is Advanced Welding Technologies. I chose this because I was always interested in building things and enjoyed welding in high school. 

Q: What has been your proudest moment at Kirkwood?  

A: One of my proudest moments at Kirkwood was the friendly competition we had when representatives from Vermeer visited the lab during my first year at Kirkwood. My welds were beating out those from second year students. It was a bit of a confidence booster. 

Q: What are your plans after Kirkwood? 

A: My plans for after Kirkwood are to continue pursuing my welding business, Avery’s Welding and Fabrication LLC, while staying with the company I have been working for throughout high school and college. 

Q: What inspires or motivates you? 

A: What motivates me is the fear of wasting a day. I just try to make sure that I am using all the time I have and at the end of each day I am closer to reaching my goals than I was at the beginning. I believe success is never owned, it’s rented, and the rent is due every day. 

Q: Tell us about who you are outside of Kirkwood – hobbies, family, other interests, etc. 

A: Outside of Kirkwood I work for a granite countertop company and operate my small welding business. This pretty much occupies all my time. 

Q: What does be named an Outstanding Student mean to you? 

A: To me, being named Outstanding Student is an honor. I feel like the effort I have made is being recognized and for that I am grateful.  

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add? 

A: I would like to thank my welding instructors Dane and Sam for working with me throughout the past two years, they have done an excellent job. 

Categories: Outstanding Students