{"id":356,"date":"2016-03-25T01:45:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T01:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=356"},"modified":"2016-03-25T18:39:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T18:39:08","slug":"tstc-alumna-keeps-construction-projects-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=356","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Alumna Keeps Construction Projects on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"_DSC0191<\/a><\/p>\n

(WACO) \u2013 The white board in Vivian Bourque\u2019s office at Lake Air Interiors keeps her organized with the prices, contract statuses and commercial projects she juggles daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

People driving throughout Waco will notice construction cranes, steel structures and new hotels and restaurants under construction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWaco is booming,\u201d Bourque said. \u201cWaco is such a hot spot. If you are in construction, this is the place to be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bourque, 28, is Lake Air\u2019s project estimator\/manager. Her work involves project architects and interpreting blueprints to determine interior costs and labor. Many times she is the only female at work sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bourque graduated in 2010 from Texas State Technical College with an associate degree in Building Construction Technology. She was the only female in most of her classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt I had to prove myself constantly,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt I had to out perform everyone else.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

She will soon complete the membership process to join the Waco Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage more females to get in the field,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a definite need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bourque said people interested in the field should have good organizational skills along with a comfort in mathematics and accounting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Hubbard, assistant chair and instructor in the Industrial Systems Technology program, taught Bourque when she was a student. She admired his encouragement in fostering her career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the one who told me you should go to school to be an estimator,\u201d Bourque said. \u201cThis was at my first year at TSTC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hubbard described Bourque as a serious student.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe asked a lot of questions and was focused and inquisitive,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bob Howard, co-owner of Lake Air Interiors on Lake Air Drive, said he has been impressed with Bourque\u2019s knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have not met someone in the construction industry that knows from designing to project completion, pricing and installation,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a male dominated industry. It needs the detail and I would say class of more females.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bourque is a Robinson native and is a graduate of Robinson High School. In high school her plans were much different. She said she was not good at mathematics and considered nursing as a potential career. After high school Bourque earned a real estate license before attending TSTC but determined she enjoyed the construction-side better. <\/span><\/p>\n

She also received a bachelor\u2019s degree in construction engineering from Texas A&M University \u2013 Commerce in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on the TSTC Alumni Network, contact The TSTC Foundation at 254-867-3900 or <\/span>tstc.alumni@tstc.edu<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The College Preview at TSTC will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. For more information go to tstc.edu\/openhouse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apply today at tstc.edu. Registration for summer and fall semesters begins Monday, April 4.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 The white board in Vivian Bourque\u2019s office at Lake Air Interiors keeps her organized with the prices, contract statuses and commercial projects she juggles daily. People driving throughout Waco will notice construction cranes, steel structures and new hotels and restaurants under construction. \u201cWaco is booming,\u201d Bourque said. \u201cWaco is such a hot spot. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}