By Shelly Williams/reporter
The start of the spring semester quickly turned into the “ultimate field trip” for three students in the SE Campus construction management program.
The program received a $1,200 scholarship endowment from the National Housing Institute in Washington last December.
The endowment went toward expenses to attend the International Builders Show in Las Vegas in January. The three students representing TCC at the convention were Elizabeth King, Cody Harris and Nick Scherrer along with program coordinator Dr. Orlando Bagcal.
The students attended several events during the trip including the Diversity and Inclusion in Construction forum, students’ president advisory council meeting and educational seminars. The group also witnessed the Residential Construction Management Competition, a contest the team hopes to participate in next year.
“I hope to be able to put the information I gathered from attending the competitions to use next year,” Scherrer said. “This being my first time attending the competitions, I was able to observe and learn from the students that were competing what was expected and how they are presented.”
The competition allows the students to practice the different functions they have studied by presenting and defending a project packet to a panel of industry experts. Competitors receive real scenarios from real projects, and then teams answer questions students could expect to encounter in “real life.”
“I find the prospect of bringing estimating, scheduling, design and presentation together in one project very exciting and am looking forward to next year’s competition,” King said. “Past competitors said previous winners have been inundated with inquiries and job offers at the end of the competition. That is also very exciting.”
The group also attended luncheons with other students and took away information to use later.
“We had great roundtable discussions on the topic and application of diversity and inclusion: why it’s important in construction, how we can affect it and why employers are looking to us for answers,” King said. “I came away with some great ideas on fundraising and many unanswered questions as to the future of regulations and growth.”
Scherrer said the exhibits and competition presented at the IBS were informative and helpful and he gained a fair amount of knowledge as to where the construction industry was heading in the future.
Toward the end of the convention, HGTV and DIY television channels produced show segments at the IBS, and the team watched as Cool Tools filmed on location for one of its shows.
“The educational opportunities were all around us and took many forms,” King said. “If you look hard enough when the episode airs, you may see Cody, Nick and I in the background.”
