(WACO, Texas) – Janson Teal was exposed to the construction field early on as relatives built homes and managed projects.
Now Teal is forging his own path in the industry, thanks to Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. This month he graduated from TSTC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Building Construction Technology.
“I really enjoyed my time there,” Teal said. “I liked how it was smaller, and you can get more attention and better learning that way. It is a hands-on technical college.”
Teal said his favorite courses at TSTC dealt with blueprint reading, construction management and field engineering. The classes built the foundation for his job as an assistant project manager at Grinder Taber & Grinder Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began work in September.
“It has been pretty seamless,” Teal said. “They (his co-workers) have accepted me, and I really try to help out as much as I can and fit in where I can. It has gone really smoothly.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his class schedule, Teal discovered he had three classes during the fall semester that would be offered totally online.
“I did not want to just sit in my apartment in Waco and take classes, so I started applying for jobs. And that is how I ended up in Memphis,” he said.
Herschel Miller, lead instructor in TSTC’s Building Construction Technology program in Waco, said Teal was eager to learn.
“He accepted challenges with open arms,” Miller said. “This was exceptionally true when the COVID-19 crisis took over. I also saw in Janson good mentoring skills for fellow classmates. The good traits I personally witnessed and saw in Janson will do nothing but benefit him in his life’s journeys in business. He will be a successful young man in whatever he chooses to do in life.”
Teal’s job involves working with contracts and estimates, visiting job sites and communicating with architects and building owners.
“You have to make sure nothing goes wrong and prevent wrong things happening,” he said. ‘You have to identify a future problem and get rid of it before it happens.”
The city of Lubbock, where Teal was born, factored into his choosing TSTC. He is a graduate of Abernathy High School in Abernathy.
“I was on a college visit,” he said. “I was at Texas Tech (in Lubbock) and I was trying to find something I would go to college for. I knew I was interested in construction. I started Googling construction schools and found TSTC, and I really liked it. It was hands-on, and you built things and learned things that way.”
Teal is not finished with his academic work. He plans to start an online bachelor’s degree in construction management at The University of Southern Mississippi in January.
“Once you figure out what you want to do, just go do it and do not be afraid, even if it means being different from everyone else,” Teal said.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.
