Welding a Bright Future

Welding a Bright Future

• Students
• 06/11/2026

When Colton Van Fleet first put on a welding hood as a high school student, he didn't
expect it would spark a passion that would shape his future.

But that first introduction to welding, through a dual credit class taught by Rock Valley College instructor Bill Isham, set Colton on a course that would carry him from Belvidere North High School to the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) at RVC and into a full-time career before his 21st birthday.

Colton's journey began with curiosity and a willingness to try new things. "Bill came in and was teaching us the basics and the ropes," Colton remembers. "As I got to learn and grow, I put on the welding hood and just fell in love with it. I realized, yeah, this is what I want for a career. I didn't want to change again, because I changed a lot in high school."

The ATC facility quickly impressed him. "Going to that facility was a different level. It was huge. It was massive. It had everything you could ask for," he says. With access to state-of-the-art equipment and hands-on experience in everything from TIG to robotic welding, Colton found the environment he needed to push his skills further.

Mentorship played a critical role in Colton's growth. Both Bill Isham and Grahm Rademaker made a lasting impression. "Bill and Graham were pretty great influences, and I'd even argue friends at times," Colton shares. "They were always there to help, have a conversation, and genuinely cared about my progress." Bill recalls, "Colton has set himself up for success and will hold future leadership roles in his chosen career path. He's naturally talented in the manual processes of welding and is disciplined in attendance, skill progression, and his bookwork."

But success didn't come without setbacks. Colton learned early on that failure was part of the process. "As a welder, you fall into a lot of times of failure…It's just learning how to get to that perfect weld, and as more failures you rack on, the better and better you get because you're learning from your mistakes," he explains. His perseverance paid off as he mastered TIG and robotic welding skills that set him apart in a competitive field.

Colton also made a point of supporting his peers. "He would even find time to help students struggling with new concepts while still always completing his work on time," Grahm observes. "Colton is a prime example of how we want students to conduct themselves as they begin to enter the workforce and get to show off the skills and knowledge they have obtained during their time with the RVC weld department."

By the time he completed the program, Colton was not only well-prepared but already working full-time. "It gave me a lot of opportunities that I would have never gotten outside of the program, to the point where now I'm in a job full time, making a wage that I would hope for," Colton says. He credits the supportive faculty, challenging coursework, and diverse hands-on experiences at RVC for preparing him for a bright future.

Colton Van Fleet's journey is a testament to following your interests, embracing the challenges, and building lasting relationships with mentors and classmates. As hisminstructors agree, Colton is poised to lead and inspire both in the welding shop and beyond.

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