Looking for your opinion

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Hello. I'm 28 yrs old and already work as a welder. I have had several welding/classes, and a little experience here and there but by no means am i a know it all...i'm going to stick with welding as a career for keeps.i was wanting your opinions..i'm not a school whiz or a book worm.i do not even want to set behind a desk period.my goal is to be living somewhere by the ocean working as a welder in a shipyard or a welding job with good pay,but by the ocean...i have decided to take a 2 year school  and will recieve a """combination welder certificate''''' along with being state certified in whatever style i want or can afford to pay for..my question is  how much more will a degree help me in this feild??i could get a degree in welding technology..like i said earlier i'm a worker and it makes the day pass fast for me.. I love to weld but i do want to learn as much as i can in welding,but i could care less about math,english,art, and all the bull that goes along with a degree...i can almost say my goal it to wind up in a shipyard,or a pipe welder,or both..  Let me ear what you all think??  Remember i will still be working as a welder the whole time i go to school so i will be getting experience also at the same time...        Thank you for any advise
Reply:OK wareagle, I'll give an opinion, but that's all it is, my opinion. Tech school and a little experience will certainly get you started. A "combination welder certificate" and "state certification" will help in the long run, too. You will still have to certify for most  for the jobs you get, on the job. The schooling gets your foot in the door, only. A degree in welding technology, in my opinion will be the most benefit to you, again, in the long run. Still just gets your foot in the door, but qualifies you for a job further up the food chain than just "weldor". Leadman, foreman, supervisor etc. but only with experience, too. Remember, it's not "what" you know, but "who" you know that gets you moved up in the food chain on most jobs. Being from a landlocked state the ocean has a lot of romance, pull, whatever. Working in a shipyard is not romantic at all. There are a lot of jobs in certain locations, with the ocean just a short distance away, though. I've never worked a shipyard with any size to it, but the ones I did work at...I spent ALL my time off looking for a REAL job! The small shipyards I worked at on the Gulf Coast left a lot to be desired. Poor equipment and very unsafe conditions. My opinion, get the math, english, art etc. You won't be sorry you did it later on in life.Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.                                         -Cree Indian ProverbSA 200 LincolnVictor Torches
Reply:Bugger going into the shipyards, they are way to noisy and are not very good work environments all around.If you think you may want to go up the food chain  later in life then look at the schooling. Otherwise forget about it and just get into it yourself.  Go see your boss and see if you can use his gear after hour's,  set those butts up and burn wire/rods.  If he won't let you do that then set yourself at home and get stuck in.  7018 rods, 6010 up and down, TIG carbon and s/s and you'll be well on your way with the pipe.If you get onto good piping jobs you'll be testing out for each one anyway.I'd rather be hunting........USE ENOUGH HEAT.......Drifting around Aussie welding more pipe up, for something different.....wanting to get home.
Reply:It seems to me like you just want to weld so find a good job (ship yard is not!) and have at it.  You can complete a degree at your leisure if you decide that you really want it.- If you can jump across it you can weld it!  - anonymous old boilermaker