Abbas saws into male dominated field
Kirkwood Community College Outstanding Student Joanne Abbas is one woman who is not afraid of a challenge.
“Being the only female Carpentry major you definitely have to prove yourself. It is definitely a male dominated field,” said Abbas.
Carpentry wasn’t Abbas’s first choice; she also studied textile design at the University of Kansas and graduated with a four-year degree. She said she hopes to incorporate both textile and carpentry into her work ethic when she graduates from Kirkwood Community College this May.
Even though Abbas said she is not quite sure what she to do when she graduates she wants to pursue a job in Iowa City, hopefully working for the union. She said she also has hopes to build and restore old homes around Iowa City. “When I first started I was more interested in building furniture but now I know I definitely want to work on remodeling homes,” she said.
Abbas said she gets some inspiration from watching home improvement shows but most of it comes from her dad and grandfather who handle woodwork as well.
Abbas goes to school fulltime, which involves working on carpentry projects and entering competitions. The next competition she plans to enter is the Skills USA competition, which is hosted in Des Moines. When asked one word that best describes her, Abbas said, “hard working.” In addition to going to school fulltime Abbas said she works part-time at a local coffee shop and spends time taking care of her new Great Dane puppy.
She said her best experiences at Kirkwood have been everything her instructor Barry Kucera has taught her. “Apart from carpentry he also teaches us the business side of things – what to expect and what they can expect from us,” said Abbas.
Abbas said she has always enjoyed carpentry and plans to build her life around it. “ I like to see the finish product, looking at the plan and laying it all out, I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” she said.