Declan brings an unmistakable energy to the apprenticeship — the kind that comes from someone who has built his life on his own terms. A Brooklyn native raised in Williamsburg, he's rooted in music, playing in a band and carrying a punk rock identity with the confidence of someone who knows who he is. That same fearlessness follows him into the shop.

He first picked up welding at The Harbor School in high school, and the work left a mark that stuck. Now he's back with more focus and a clear sense of why the craft matters: he sees welding as something irreplaceable in a world reshaped by automation — a skill no technology can replicate.