(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Building Construction Technology at Texas State Technical College equips future builders with the tools needed to step into a booming industry.
TSTC instructor Rick Vargas discussed the program and how it benefits students.
“Our TSTC instructors have first-hand industry experience that we share with our students,” he said. “This is the only construction program in our area that can teach students full-scale, hands-on construction from start to finish. By graduation, students will know what it takes to complete residential and commercial construction projects.”
Much of the program focuses on hands-on learning so that students are confident about heir skill set as soon as they begin applying for jobs.
“The majority of our classes require on-campus labs,” Vargas said. “We make sure that every class has a different project to work on so that nothing repeats itself. Our projects include floor framing, wall framing, roof framing, interior and exterior finishing, installing doors and windows, roofing, cabinetmaking, drywall, painting and surveying.”
Sebastian Tovar, a 2018 graduate of the Building Construction Technology program, credits TSTC with helping to establish the foundation for his career.
“TSTC gave me the opportunity to get training on things like rough framing, blueprint reading, estimating, schedule building, project management, and much more,” he said. “These are all skills that I use daily in my career.”
Now Tovar is thriving as an assistant superintendent at SpawGlass general contractors in San Antonio.
“My greatest accomplishment to date would have to be graduating from TSTC,” he said.
Vargas said that students considering enrolling in the program should enjoy getting their hands dirty, but also know that the skills they leave with will always be in demand.
“You have to have a passion for building or working with your hands,” he said. “There is currently an abundance of job opportunities for students, and there are bound to be more opportunities in the next several years. We have companies from all over the state that come down to recruit students from our Harlingen campus because they are so well prepared to enter the workforce.”
To learn more about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
