An interesting life ahead for Carly Nowak

    Carly Nowak can rotate her tires, change her oil and is the only chick in her welding class at Prairie View High School.
Her mom says she seems to have a 40-year-plan for her life already, and she’s only 17.
    Nowak was chosen as Brighton Noon Rotary Club’s students of the month in September. Why did they pick her? Probably because she’s ambitious, eloquent and going places.
    “Ms. Carly Nowak is an amazingly accomplished student with many interests and career goals,” said Kristene Elmore, public relations chairperson for Brighton Noon Rotary. “[We] feel it is valuable to honor and recognize our high school students because these young adults are our leaders of tomorrow. And who doesn’t like a little recognition for their accomplishments? We also hope that by honoring these students they will become Rotarians one day.”
    PVHS Principal Chris Fiedler nominated Nowak. He described her as “old school” when it comes to manners.

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    “Everything is ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no, sir.’ She is the most polite high school student I know,” Fiedler said. “She is also a Renaissance woman. She has taken numerous AP and honors courses, as well as numerous choir and welding courses.”
    The Navy might just be one of the places Nowak is heading to in the near future. It’s an option she and her family have been considering.
    “To me, it seems like it would make sense to join the Navy, not only for the service of protecting the country, but as a way to get my education and experience,” Nowak said.
    Nowak is hoping to have a future in welding, a trade that she first came into contact with at PVHS. Her teacher, Jim Cade, seemed to be really passionate about teaching the trade.
    “I want a teacher who is happy about the subject he’s teaching,” Nowak said. “I just decided to take welding on a whim and fell in love with it.”
    She’s planning on getting her degree and certifications in welding in order to either work as a welder or join the Navy and weld ships. Eventually, she hopes to earn her “sparrows,” which a Navy officer earns after crossing an ocean. If she accomplishes that goal, Nowak said she plans to get sparrow tattoos.
    “If I don’t do the Navy, I would use welding to get into a fabrication shop and pay my way through college,” she said.
    Nowak is close to getting her associate’s degree in applied science from Front Range Community College.
    She has taken welding classes through the school at Prairie View for a few years. All she needs is a blueprint reading and physics class. Then Nowak will have to test for her certifications, which she won’t do until after she finishes her associate’s degree. The cost of the test is $100.
    “I think it’s paramount to have some type of trade skills or hands-on class because there are students who are not book inclined. Even for students who do excel in academics, it’s still important because it can ground them or give them an understanding of how things work,” Nowak said.
    According to Nowak, the Navy would either give her experience in the field or jettison her into a career.
    “If you’re a welder, getting into a shop without any experience is almost impossible,” Nowak said.
    She added that skills and trades, such as welding, culinary arts, carpentry, automotive, plumbing or landscaping, died out for awhile. But there seems to be some revival going on as schools offer these areas of education.
    In the future, Nowak said she wouldn’t mind getting in to blacksmithing as well, mostly because of her fascination with the history behind it.  
    To help prepare her for that future, Nowak is involved with a number of groups to bolster her leadership and communication skills.
    She is the parliamentarian state officer for Skills USA, a nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry professionals that serves teachers and high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.
    Nowak also serves as secretary of the PVHS chapter of Skills USA. Last year, she was the chapter’s president.
    According to Nowak, through Skills USA, students learn technical training and soft skills to help them in the professional world, such as networking, building resumes, leadership guidance, prepared speech, communication and self-promotion.
    With her lessons in leadership, Nowak said she has learned that you can’t be scared or embarrassed.
    “The shell that you put yourself in is pretty useless. If people laugh at you, just laugh back,” Nowak said.
    With the technical skills, students practice. Nowak practices flat, horizontal and vertical up positions in welding. During one session, they took a section of an I-beam and had to do what professional welders would have to do in real life. They had to look at a blueprint and figure out where to weld, how deep to make the weld and how to keep the line straight.
    “Welding is kind of dangerous, which is awesome,” Nowak said. “You have your hood on and all the protective gear, but you still see that hot magma that you’re dragging along. You’re creating this. You’re building something that other people can’t.”
    What she really loves about welding is that you see results right away.
    “In honors AP classes, you write an essay and get it back weeks later with a letter grade on it. It was nice to have something I could hold, something tangible,” Nowak said.
    As if she didn’t have enough interests, Nowak thinks she could some day get a degree in small business law or open up a café in a college town where she can give back to the community and feed people – something she enjoys and is pretty good at.
    According to her mom, Nowak can make cannolis, the Sicilian pastry dessert, from scratch.
    “I think it’s important for people to have a place to talk to each other, share ideas and grow while eating food,” Nowak said.
    Her café would be a haven for young musicians and poets. Instead of magazines on racks, Nowak said she would display artists’ portfolios.
    The Nowaks have lived in Brighton for six years and were in Fort Lupton for eight years before that.
    She’s a fan of World of Warcraft, reads for fun and enjoys hiking and skiing.
    Nowak said her end goal is to be self-sufficient. But she also wants to make her parents proud. Something they already are.
    She’s not a homebody, though. Nowak plans to travel and travel far. She hopes to backpack Europe, tour Ireland and explore nations such as Scandinavia.
    For someone with so many goals, who knows what her future will hold?
    Whatever she does, Nowak said, “You’ve gotta make life interesting, right?”

Contact Emily Dougherty at 303-659-2522 ext. 223 or edougherty@metrowestnewspapers.com.