Participation in skills competitions helps the young professional continuously develop his competences and learn new welding techniques - knowledge that he then passes on to his students.

"Welding is an incredibly broad field" says Piotr. "A lifetime is not enough to fully master all its aspects. Typically, welders stick to one method that they get used to and then perfect over time. However, when preparing for a skills competition, you need to step out of the comfort zone and master four different welding techniques equally well. That’s why consistent practice is a must. I regularly attend seminars and training sessions. Apart from that, I train independently almost every day, refining my skills and learning to do familiar tasks in new, more efficient ways."

Although Piotr is now a role model for his students, his passion for the profession didn’t develop immediately. After completing nine years of school, his options for further education in his hometown of Pinsk were limited. He admits that he wasn’t a particularly strong student so he applied to the colleges where his GPA would allow him to get in.

"I developed a genuine interest in my studies only about a year and a half in, when the practical lessons started," Piotr recalls. "I became eager to learn how to weld properly. Much of this change came thanks to my teacher, Gennady Alekseevich Romanovsky, the leading welding expert in Belarus. He dedicated extra time to work with me and prepared me for professional skills competitions. When he moved to Minsk, he invited me to study there and helped me prepare for national and international contests. So it was actually my teacher who discovered my talent and motivated me to improve.