At just ten years old, a little girl wandered through a school hallway and stopped in front of a welding simulator. The room smelled faintly of metal and machine oil. On the screen, sparks flew as she lifted the tool for the first time. Most kids would have smiled, tried it for a minute, and moved on. But not Mikala Sposito. She would later say it felt like the coolest thing ever. In that single moment—hands shaking, eyes wide, heart racing—something clicked. And once it did, she never stopped chasing that feeling. Years passed. While others spent weekends with friends or relaxed after school, Mikala chose heat, noise, pressure, and discipline. She chose workshops over parties, early mornings over sleep, and repetition over comfort. Welding camps. Endless training days. Competitions where one tiny error could erase months of work. Burned hands, sore muscles, and silent frustration became part of her routine. Still, she kept going. Quietly. Relentlessly. In March, she stepped into the USA Weld Trials to face some of the most skilled young welders in the country. Three grueling rounds. Every angle measured. Every weld judged. The margin between winning and losing was razor thin. When the final results were announced, Mikala finished first. It wasn’t luck. It was years of unseen effort finally speaking for her. Now, at just 21 years old, Mikala is making history—becoming the first woman ever selected to represent the United States in international welding competition this September. She trains nearly 80 hours a week, sacrificing time with family, friends, and a “normal” life to prepare for the world stage. Behind every clean weld is exhaustion, discipline, and the courage to keep going when no one is watching. What makes her story even more powerful is where she stands. Welding remains a field where women are still heavily outnumbered. Yet Mikala refuses to believe it belongs to only one kind of person. She knows success isn’t about brute strength. It’s about patience. Precision. Focus. Belief. And the willingness to show up again and again. Somewhere right now, another little girl may walk past a welding machine and quietly wonder if she belongs there. Because of Mikala, the answer will be yes. She isn’t just building metal. She’s building doors—so others can walk through them.
Community college student from Michigan to be 1st woman to represent US at world welding competition
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Growing up, Mikala Sposito dreamed of being a trailblazer.
“I always wanted to be the first female to do something,” she said.
That dream is about to be realized.
Student Mikala Sposito welds at Washtenaw Community College on Friday, May 1, 2026, in Ann Arbor., Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)
The 21-year-old from Dexter, Michigan, will be the first woman to represent the United States in welding at the WorldSkills Competition in China.
Sposito, a student at Washtenaw Community College, earned the coveted spot by winning the USA Weld Trials in Huntsville, Alabama, earlier this year.
“It was very, very close the whole time, but I was the one who made it to Shanghai,” Sposito said.
Described as the Olympics of the skilled trades, WorldSkills determines the globe’s best in technical disciplines that include construction, information technology, manufacturing and robotics.
And, of course, welding.
Sposito is the sixth Washtenaw Community College student to qualify in WorldSkills history. WCC has produced more WorldSkills welding alums than any other school in the United States, the Ann Arbor college said. One of them, Alex Pazkowski, who finished second in 2013, is Sposito’s instructor and mentor.
He accompanied her to the American championships in Alabama and also will be her coach at a series of competitions that will take them from Canada to Australia in the months leading up to WorldSkills in September.
Add to that 80 hours of welding practice per week at WCC, and Sposito has “a long, hard road” ahead of her, Pazkowski said.
“But at the end of the day, if you’re successful, it’s gonna open up all kinds of doors for you,” he said.
She will be evaluated on technical execution and craftsmanship under stiff time constraints and stringent international standards.
Sposito said she’s looking forward to putting up her skills against the world’s best. And traveling abroad, which she hasn’t done previously.
As for the “first” aspect, she said: “I don’t see the gender aspect of it.
“I mean, welding doesn’t take any brute strength or anything. It’s actually very fine and precise.”
But she does recognize that women are minority participants in a discipline she fell in love with at age 10. And if her world-class success joining together metals using heat and pressure helps pave the way for future welders, then all the better.
“Being the first female to do it is very cool,” said Sposito, whose near-term goal is to earn her bachelor’s degree in welding engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit. Long-term, she might like to follow in Pazkowski’s footsteps and teach at WCC.
Either way, she’s happy to be “inspirational for many women in the trades who have possibly struggled.”