2 minute read
Never Tell Her the Odds
Welding Student Forges Her Own Path to Success
Abbi Ledbetter doesn’t mind being told she can’t do something. Her only condition is that the doubters are ready to be proven wrong.
I CAN DO ANYTHING
From Brownstown, Illinois, Abbi attends Lake Land to study welding, a field she’s loved since high school. At that time, however, her decision to pursue welding as a career was met with more surprise than support. Her own guidance counselor summarized it in a single question: “Are you sure you can handle that?”
“Of course I can,” Abbi recalled answering. “I can do anything.”
Since joining Lake Land’s program, Abbi has enjoyed a learning environment welcoming to all. She knows she’s not the typical welding student, but at Lake Land, she knows it doesn’t matter.
“We’re all the same here,” Abbi explained. “Nobody looks at a weld and wonders if a guy or girl did it.”
MISS PERSISTENCE
In July 2024, Abbi traded her welding jacket for a formal gown by competing in the Miss Fayette County Pageant. By the event’s end, she was crowned the new Miss Fayette County Queen.
Abbi acknowledges that no one expects a welder to join a pageant, but her participation was perfectly in character.
“Someone told me I couldn’t do it,” Abbi said. “So I signed up and won the whole thing.”
DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY
Part welder, part pageant queen, all determination: no matter what it is she’s doing, Abbi has no intentions of satisfying anyone’s expectations other than her own.
“Why would you let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do? They’re not the ones paying your bills or providing for your family,” Abbi said. “At the end of the day, you just have to do what makes you happy.”
MEET ANOTHER LAKER WHO’S BREAKING BARRIERS
By studying Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) at Lake Land College, Caressa Dillow pursues a career that combines her passions of art and technology. Learn more about Caressa's Laker experience at blog.lakelandcollege.edu.
