From Vietnam immigrant to Fresno State grad, how construction management inspired me | Opinion

There’s a saying that “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” My journey was more than 7,500 miles when I immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam. When I was just 15, my mom, dad, sister and I took our first step out of District 12 in Ho Chi Minh City in search of a better life and a promising future.

After a short stay in Seattle, we moved to Fresno so my dad could pursue a job through a connection he had made. I took a gap year to acclimate and learn English, but it wasn’t long until I found myself walking the halls of high school trying to find my way in this new place. It was overwhelming to not only navigate a new environment, culture and language as a teenager, but also deal with the imminent pressures of what to do with my future.

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Originally, I thought my interests lied in biology, so I enrolled in community college. After a short time, I transferred to Fresno State University. I quickly learned that the long, isolated hours in labs was just not for me. I was energized by people and by working collaboratively with others. I found a pamphlet that had a personality test to help identify the right type of career fit for me and was surprised to see construction management as one of the top results.

It made sense to me. I was always fascinated by the beauty of the buildings around me and wondered about all that went into the planning, design and building of these amazing structures. I switched my major and never looked back.

Construction management is an undergraduate field of study that comprises the planning, design, safety, quality control and execution of construction projects. It provides amazing employment opportunities, with colleges reporting sold-out job fairs and outstanding job placement results. There are more than 400,000 construction managers out of the nation’s 7.8 million industry workers. The pay is also good, with median income of more than $90,000 per year.

Pursuing my degree was just the beginning. The most exciting part of the last four years was putting the knowledge and skills I had learned in action as part of the Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Management Competition in Orlando earlier this year. The ABC Construction Management Competition is an annual, nationally recognized event that showcases careers in construction management. Twenty-one teams from colleges and universities around the country were challenged on construction knowledge, organization, time management and presentation skills at this year’s competition, giving them a first-hand look at the real world of construction.

I was honored to be co-captain of my team, where our assigned project was the construction of a four-story, pre-K-12 education building. It was both exciting and intense, and I am proud that we placed second in the overall category, second in project management and third in estimating at this year’s competition.

At school, I got involved in the Fresno State Bluebeam User Group, a student club dedicated to the construction software. My team was awarded the Standout Bluebeam User Group of the Year. And at my graduation in May, I was named the Lyles College of Engineering Undergraduate Dean’s Medalist.

Now, I will begin my next chapter of my life as a project engineer at Quiring General, a leading commercial construction company and general contractor in Fresno and the Bay Area. I couldn’t be more excited. Not only will I be applying the skills I learned in school and in competition, but I will be able to use some of the most exciting technologies emerging today. From drones and 3D printing to robotics and augmented reality, I will be able to employ all of the newest tools to find innovative ways to plan and build everything from manufacturing plants to the world’s most inventive skyscrapers more quickly, cost-effectively and safely than ever before.

My path to success may seem nontraditional, but it is open to anyone planning to earn a college degree. To those high school graduates and young adults who may not have yet found their calling, I highly encourage you to explore construction management. Many of the nation’s premier construction management college and university programs are affiliated with one of Associated Builders and Contractors’ 68 chapters, which connect students to internships, job-site tours, networking events, mentoring, job offers and team competitions through ABC’s National Student Chapter Network, building a solid foundation for career success.

Careers in construction also offer high job satisfaction because they allow workers to pursue their passions and perform meaningful work building America’s communities from coast to coast. Your journey, like mine, begins with that first step.

Kiet Duong is a recent graduate of Fresno State University.