By Paul Stinson, with additional reporting by Kathy Swartz and Sydney Kim
When he started his freshman year at Crockett Early College High School, Andrew Garcia wanted to go into theater and build stage props. As he was signing up, he was told that if he wanted to do theater, he should sign up for construction.
Now, he has found himself hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who owns his own construction company. Discovering this new passion was a happy coincidence.
鈥淚 chose it by accident,鈥 Andrew said of his entry into the field. 鈥淚 did take theater for a little bit, but I gotta say I love construction more.鈥
While Andrew is steadily amassing a collection of completed projects鈥攊ncluding chicken coops鈥攈is curiosity for how things work took off in middle school when he decided to take apart a PlayStation 2.
鈥淚 got bored one day and I just grabbed one of my grandpa鈥檚 screwdrivers and just started unscrewing it,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a very hands-on person. If I鈥檓 not doing something I get very bored.鈥
Starting construction in the throes of the pandemic meant that Andrew was often the only one physically in class as he sought additional help on early assignments, like building a mini-shed.
That provided an ideal setting to work extensively with construction teacher and mentor Colin Bugge, who showed him the ropes for using the miter saw to cut angles.
鈥淏ecause there was nobody there, I basically got his full attention which was awesome,鈥 Andrew said. 鈥淏ut he also didn鈥檛 give me too much attention so I could learn how to do it on my own. In the end, I think the shed came out pretty good.鈥
During his senior year, Andrew plans to take a course in electrical work at 麻豆果冻传媒 Community College in preparation for trade school after graduation.
Bajo el reflector del CTE: Andrew Garc铆a, estudiante del grado 11 de la escuela de Crockett, forj谩ndose una carrera en la construcci贸n
Por Paul Stinson, con informaci贸n adicional de Kathy Swartz y Sydney Kim
Cuando inici贸 su primer a帽o en la Escuela Preparatoria de Universidad Temprana Crockett Andrew Garc铆a quer铆a dedicarse al teatro y a la construcci贸n de escenograf铆as. Cuando se estaba inscribiendo, le dijeron que, si quer铆a hacer teatro, deb铆a inscribirse en las clases de construcci贸n.
Ahora, se ha encontrado con la esperanza de seguir los pasos de su abuelo, que tiene su propia compa帽铆a de construcci贸n. Descubrir esta nueva pasi贸n fue una feliz coincidencia.
"Lo escog铆 por accidente", dice Andrew sobre su incursi贸n en este campo. "Me dediqu茅 al teatro durante un tiempo, pero tengo que decir que me gusta m谩s la construcci贸n".
Mientras Andrew acumula una colecci贸n de proyectos terminados, incluyendo gallineros, su curiosidad por el funcionamiento de las cosas se desat贸 en la escuela secundaria cuando decidi贸 desarmar un PlayStation 2.
"Un d铆a me aburr铆 y tom茅 uno de los destornilladores de mi abuelo y empec茅 a desarmarlo", dijo. "Soy una persona muy activa. Si no estoy haciendo algo me aburro mucho".
Empezar la construcci贸n en plena pandemia significaba que Andrew era a menudo el 煤nico estudiante presente f铆sicamente en la clase, ya que buscaba ayuda adicional en las primeras tareas, como la construcci贸n de un mini-cobertizo.
Eso le facilit贸 un escenario ideal para trabajar extensivamente con el maestro de construcci贸n y mentor, Colin Bugge, que le ense帽贸 las destrezas para usar la sierra de inglete para cortar 谩ngulos.