Alexander Pazkowski, a welding instructor at WCC, brushes away on a cylindrical piece of metal. Torrence Williams | Washtenaw Voice
By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer
Many people have dreams to reach the pinnacle of their careers — few make it. Alexander Pazkowski, a WCC alum and current welding instructor, is one person who has succeeded in doing so.
Since high school, Pazkowski always had a very competitive edge, playing baseball for Saline, but faced challenges during that time.
“I did a lot of bench-riding in Saline; I’m left-handed, so I was always the relief pitcher . . . they’d put me in and then take me out,” said Pazkowski.
“It was that way for a lot of people . . . you had the people that rode the bench often, and then you had the people that played often, and I didn’t like that we all had to do the same amount of work. To me, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze,” Pazkowski said.
Despite the frustrations of playing baseball, Pazkowski was able to transfer his competitive drive over to a new activity — welding. Through this he realized that he was his own team and had complete control.
“When I started welding I realized really quick that you got out of welding what you put into it,” said Pazkowski.
“If I showed up early to practice for baseball and I left late, I probably still wouldn’t play in that upcoming game. But if I showed up really early to class to weld and then showed up after school to weld, I was now better than everybody in the class because I had practice,” Pazkowski said. “It was on me at that point.”
Pazkowski stumbled upon welding in a way some might not expect — playing paintball.
“I was traveling quite a bit for paintball in high school and I wanted to make a career out of it,” said Pazkowski. “I wanted to get into the design and manufacture of paintball guns because I thought that was sweet.”
Pazkowski said that he struggled with the manufacturing aspect but he excelled at the welding.
“The rest is history,” said Pazkowski.
Pazkowski said that he specifically chose to attend WCC because of the strong welding department, which sends multiple welding students to compete at higher levels. He’s been welding for 13 years now and has many accolades to accompany his work.
“I actually came here specifically to compete,” Pazkowski said.
After starting off in the state competition and winning it, Pazkowski advanced to the national competition, where he won again. After going through the international pre-trials, Pazkowski ended up losing to Brad Clink, another current welding instructor at the college.
After one competition, Pazkowski took home a silver medal and $40,000 which he used to cover tuition expenses from Eastern Michigan University.
Pazkowski now works as a full-time welding instructor at Washtenaw.
“This job provides me with something different from day to day, and then I get to work with a full-spectrum of skillsets,” Pazskowski said. “I get to work with a person who has never welded before, I get to work with the person who grew up on the farm and learned to weld… and then I get to work with our competitors, the best of the best in that sense.”
Currently, Pazkowski is teaching several welding and fabrication classes at the college including Introduction to Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, Soldering and Brazing, Introduction to Welding Processes I and II and Shielded Metal Arc Welding.
