Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
McALLEN, Texas – For United States Army veteran Naomi Rios, the path that eventually led her to South Texas College’s Welding program began more than 20 years ago on a military base in Northern Italy, during a chapter in her life defined by deployments, resilience and constant change.
This Veterans Day, as STC honors the men and women who served, Rios hopes her story reaches out to those who may feel hesitant about returning to school.
Now eyeing graduation in December, Rios reflects on her own journey so far and realizes welding is more than just sparks and steel. It’s a reminder that reinvention is possible at any age – and that veterans carry with them not only discipline and service, but the courage to begin again.
“Veterans know how to adapt – that’s what keeps me going,” Rios said. “I believe you are never too old to reinvent yourself.”
As a veteran, Rios said she spent eight years in an Army Armor Company as a supply sergeant and met her husband during desert training in the Mojave.
In 2004, while her husband’s Airborne Brigade was deployed to Vicenza, Italy, Rios enrolled in a welding course offered through the installation’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation program. She initially signed up to stay busy and fix her car’s loose muffler hanger without having to pay a mechanic.
“I didn’t have anything else planned, so I thought, why not?” she recalled. “The spark that started in Italy never left me.”
What started as a practical errand turned into a defining moment. She excelled in the course, repaired equipment around the shop and was even featured in a Vicenza newspaper at the time under the headline “Some like it hot,” captured in a leather jacket with sparks flying as she welded.
But military life changed her plans. After Italy came Germany, then Fort Hood and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan for her husband. Rios enrolled in college courses whenever she could – business, computers, nursing, physical therapy – but frequent relocations meant lost credits and constant restarts.
The couple eventually remained in Texas long enough to complete their bachelor’s degree through Texas A&M University Central Texas before returning to the Rio Grande Valley. Rios started taking classes at STC beginning in 2017, balancing school with caring for her husband’s grandmother until her passing. Afterwards, she decided it was time for something new.
Her interest turned to welding – where it all began.
“I was 56 when I came back. You’re never too old to continue your education and I am proof of that,” she said.
Rios said she and her husband initially planned to take classes together – she in Welding and he in Electrician Technology – but his health forced him to withdraw after one semester. She pressed forward, not to enter the industry, but led by a desire to create art. She said she had become inspired by metal sculptures she had seen on her visits to New Orleans and Nashville and dreamed of crafting her own wind-driven pieces.
At STC, Rios said welding became a form of expression that she gravitated to. She said Welding faculty supported the idea and adjusted her schedule so she could balance certification work with creative development.
Encouragement by faculty at STC gave her the push she needed, she said. Today she is completing her third and final semester in the program. She has already earned her structural welding certificate and expects to graduate with her combination welding certificate and associate degree this semester.
After graduation, Rios said she hopes to purchase her own welding machine and begin producing metal art independently. At the same time, she is preparing to begin her master’s degree through Texas A&M Central Texas.
“I simply started a welding course just to fix my muffler, but that sparked a giant flame in me,” she said. “So, what is the message here – Get a trade, get a skill. You need something to build your life on.”
For more information about STC’s Welding program visit www.southtexascollege.edu/academics/welding/.
Information source: STC
