On April 11, the School of Construction at The University of Southern Mississippi hosted its first Craft of Construction Day to invite Mississippi high school students to USM.
The School of Construction organized the event, which included an Info Session, school tour and classroom presentations, lunch, an alumni panel, an advisement session and a campus tour.
Ethan Laprade, student from Green County High School said she was excited to be on campus.
“I’m here to see how the college atmosphere is and what you all have to offer,” Laprade said.
Dean of the College of Science and Technology David Hayhurst said the area he gets most excited about is construction.
“The reason is because it’s an incredibly interesting field,” Hayhurst said. “It involves a lot of different things. Think about this building right here [Trent Lott Center] it started from a bare piece of ground.”
Hayhurst said there is no discipline more involved in teaming than the people in construction.
“You get to deal with trades and other professions,” Hayhurst said.
“It’s a good school and a good university,” he said “I think you can hear my words, but the evidence is going to be when you walk around and see it for yourself.
Claire Hamilton, Interior Design Coordinator, and Doris Kemp, Construction Engineering Technology provided a more detailed description of their particular field and encouraging words to the students.
The students were then taken on tours through the Bobby Chain Technology Center and the Interior Design Studio and given industry presentations throughout these locations.
After this, students were provided with a box lunch and were given the opportunity to sit down and mingle with professors, faculty and students.
After lunch, the students were divided into groups to attend different sessions.
The Alumni Student Session included a question and answer session between students and a panel of five alumni students.
The session was incredibly interactive and engaging between the two bodies.
One student started the session off by asking the panel, “How was your experience at USM?”
Haley Wood, Interior Design Intern for Mainspace Office Solutions, said, “I have nothing bad to say about my program. My professors were great I was a little afraid as a nontraditional student, but everything went great. I was well-accepted here.”
Rachel Myrick, Building & Design Project Manager at Newk’s Franchise Company, said, “All of my professors had a passion for what they do, and they truly poured that into the students.”
Marcus Davis, Project Manager for Hensel Phelps, ended the Alumni Session with a quote from Henry Ford, “whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
This session was followed by a short advisement session to inform the students on what courses they would have to take during their four years at Southern Miss.
The day ended with optional tours of the campus led by the Office of Admissions.
Bianca Manzanera, a senior student in the School of Construction, felt like the event was successful, “Today was great!” she said. “I got to hang out with potential transfer students and I’m really excited. I became interested [in construction engineering] in my ninth grade year in a workshop at my high school so this is a very important time to talk to students.”
