ATOKA, Okla. (KTEN) — From frosting cakes to fusing steel, one Kiamichi Tech graduate is proving that career paths don't always have to be a straight line.

Meet Melody Gresham — a newly certified, 29-year-old welder…

…but her journey didn't start with sparks and steel.

When she first walked through the doors of Kiamichi Tech at 18, it was to master curling irons, not welding rods.

"My sister was a cosmetologist. I grew up watching her roll perms, do hair, and I just kinda fell into it," Gresham said.

She spent five years in the world of cosmetology, then swapped shears for spoons.

"I was watching videos on Facebook one day and watched people frost cakes. I looked at it, and I thought, 'That looks easy enough! I can do that!’" Gresham added. "My very first cakes, they were pretty crazy… I'm talking big 3-D dinosaurs, Victoria's Secret bags…"

But somewhere between the swirls and sugar, a new passion started to take shape.

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