(SWEETWATER, Texas) – The buzz of power saws, nail guns and drills fill the air at Texas State Technical College’s Sweetwater campus.
This fall, the college welcomed the first cohort of students in its new Building Construction program — and the group is eager to turn classroom lessons into real-world skills.
“The first semester is really book-heavy,” said Marc Herrera, of Lubbock. “But then we get to come into the lab, actually do the work, and see the progress.”
Herrera returned to TSTC after earning a certificate in Welding Technology in 2024.
“My first thought was, I’m coming back to TSTC,” he said of learning Building Construction being offered in Sweetwater. “This has been a good program for me.”
Classmate Allen Gilbert, of Arlington, shares that enthusiasm.
“I want to see this program and the students succeed,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the architectural work that’s essential to the job.”
Gilbert said construction runs in his family, making the decision to study at TSTC an easy one.
“I did a lot of research and found that this program was the best fit for me,” he said.
Rahman “Rock” White, of Copperas Cove, said the group already feels like a team.
“Everyone gets along, and we move through our projects together,” White said while working with Gilbert and Herrera on a framing project. “The program is off to a great start. I want to see it grow.”
The students’ first project was building a birdhouse — a simple but effective way to get familiar with tools and measurements. Instructor Matthew Travis said the exercise gave students a hands-on introduction to the techniques they will use throughout the program.
“When we do the book work, it’s satisfying to come into the lab and translate that into a construction project,” White said. “It gives us the experience we’ll need and a feel for how things will be done on the job site.”
According to onetonline.org, first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers in Texas earn an average annual salary of $73,420, and the number of these positions is projected to grow by 13% through 2032.
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Building Construction Technology and a certificate of completion in Building Construction – Craftsman at its Harlingen, Marshall, New Braunfels, Sweetwater and Waco campuses.
Registration for the spring semester is underway. To learn more, visit tstc.edu.