Entering the construction career field is intimidating. Construction is the second largest industry in the entire country. It is especially intimidating when you are a female. By no means, it is a secret that the construction field is male-dominated. Leaps and bounds have been made, even just in that past couple of years, to diversify the workplace in construction. The amount of diversity there is today still has a long way to go before becoming ideal.

When I sit in class and look around, I see just about a handful of women out of my 40 or so classmates. Every semester at Virginia Tech, the Meyer-Lawson School of Construction holds a career fair. At booth upon booth, I greet representatives with my introduction and a firm handshake. Much more often than not, I am speaking with man after man. It appeared that there was more of an off balance in the ration between men and women at these career fairs. For me, this was just about the only glimpse of the real construction field that I got. It was not that I was particularly worried but again, intimidated.

Only God knows how or why I really ended up in construction. Ever since I was in fifth grade, I wanted to be an architect and design buildings. For some reason, I decided to stay with construction. That being said, before college the most construction thing I did was hammer nails into the wall to hang my artwork or use a screwdriver to change the batteries in a flashlight. The extent of my construction knowledge prior to the first day of classes what slim, very slim.

I knew basically next to nothing. I was aware that you needed to insulate walls in a building, but not even the slightest hint or clue on how one would go about doing so. Some of my peers grew up in construction and everything was nearly second nature to them. To say that the things I was discovering my first weeks in class was common knowledge to them would almost be an understatement. I, on the other hand, grew up crafting with whatever I could get my hands on and painting on essentially any surface I was allowed to. You could easily say I was a step down from most of my peers, several steps really.

One aspect that is fairly unique to construction majors, is that we are encouraged to get internships every year possible, including after freshman year. This is yet one more element of construction that intimidated me. It was especially challenging because earlier this year I signed up to give myself and serve at a Young Life camp, SharpTop Cove, in Jasper, GA. I agreed to spend an entire month down there. So now you can picture my dilemma. I am a fairly less knowledgeable candidate than many of my peers, female, and have a four-week time-off request. As disheartening as it was, I almost assumed there was nothing for me in the world of internships for this summer. What was worse, is the fact that I thought I would not compare to my peers who accomplished getting internships. Despite my arrogance and the audacity I had to rate myself based on the other people I study with, God provided for me yet again.

Even when I cannot see it, He always has a plan, and He always provides.

Two weeks into my summer, I won the lottery, hit the jackpot, scored big time. After receiving an email just, a week before (which I did not even bother to open until one of my dearest friends told me to), about a construction company, in my very own hometown, looking for a summer intern. Since my history with the construction industry was essentially nonexistent, I had not actually heard of the company before. After reaching out to this company and sending my resumé, David A. Nice Builders (DNB) offered me an internship. They hired me because they saw potential in me that maybe I lost sight of a little. They took me, my four-week time-off request and all. Looking back now, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Fast forward to the present, and I can barely fathom what has happened since May through my internship. Just through my time at DNB, I have learned more than I did my entire freshman year. That probably is not a huge surprise for some. I severely underestimated what could be learned in the summer months through the community that a phenomenal workplace can provide. I was so intimidated by an industry that I was eager to be a part of that I forgot why I wanted to be a part of it until my internship.

There are countless construction companies across the nation, but none are exactly like DNB. Everyone knows each other. Not just on the surface, but people genuinely get along and learn more than just a person’s name. DNB is a family owned company and the employees are more than just co-workers.

They are friends who spend time together outside of work. David Nice, as in David A. Nice Builders, is the owner and president alongside his wife Deborah, who is the vice president. From what I had seen before, family owned usually resembled something along the lines of father and son owned and operated. Not at DNB, one son and one daughter of David and Deborah's hold vice president positions within the company. This Christian based family set up the environment at work with their loving and genuine values and morals.

They set a gold standard that the entire company revolves around. This creates such a welcoming and sincere community that is so invaluable in the construction industry.

One of the most valuable things I learned during my internship was how to artlessly learn. My job was small, but one of those where the tasks I did were not hugely dependent to the outcome of things. Nevertheless, they were important in the long run. By just existing in the environment I worked in, I was able to observe, watch, and listen to countless things going on around me. The extensive knowledge I have absorbed during my time at DNB is not solely from within myself. It all comes from my beloved co-workers and our shared environment.

The people I work with are overflowing with experience and insight to the construction industry. Whether they are aware of it or not, they pour into me with every question answered. every tip or trick shared, and more. No matter where I went, from meetings to job sites, and every corner of the office, I brought with me an open mind, a black pen, and my metallic silver notebook. Let me tell you, this metallic silver notebook holds every single piece of information that I deemed even just the slightest bit relevant or valuable throughout my time in my internship. Hundreds of questions have come out of me during these summer weeks.

Do you want to know what they absolute best part about all this is? My co-workers never ever, not in any way, let me feel any less for not knowing something. No question I had was too small or petty. The people who worked around me showed me how limitless, how infinite, and how endless learning really is when you pay attention, tune into your surroundings, and never stop asking questions.

Remember how there are barely half a dozen other girls in many of my classes? Unfortunately, this led me to assume that this is the ratio most often seen in the workplaces in the construction industry. My narrow-mindedness got the best of me yet again. Without a doubt, you still stumble upon companies that tend to hire men over women, but this is 2017 for crying out loud! I was astonished to find such a balance in the ration during my internship. Obviously, the ratio of women on job sites is not even comparable to the office, but it could still be worse. By getting to work alongside almost a dozen other women, I had the honorable chance of learning from them and using them as my role models. Without even knowing it, they have given me the confidence to dive into the construction industry head first. If I fall, it will be okay because DNB gave me a new hard hat.