Empty nester gets fresh start in building trades

Ann Schoening '17

Photo by Nicole Guthrie

Growing up with three older brothers, Ann Schoening learned early in life how to swing a hammer, but she never really thought about making a career in construction.

Sure, one of her brothers was a builder, and as a high school student she would work with him during summer breaks. She’s also been a longtime volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

Then both her kids went off to college, leaving her and her husband of 26 years, Roger, an operations manager for a trucking company, empty nesters.

“I did office work while the kids were growing up, but when they left for college, I realized I had to get on with my life,” she said. “I started college many years ago, but I never really pursued anything. Here I was, pushing 50 years old and I knew I had to grow up and do something, but I didn’t know what.”

An ad the Deltona resident saw in the newspaper two years ago about Daytona State College’s Fresh Start program changed all that. Fresh Start is a four-week class that provides women and men the support they need to build self-confidence and explore their career interests.

She said she remembered the first day she walked into her Fresh Start class, housed in DSC’s Center for Women and Men. “Since I hadn’t been to college in more than 30 years, it was a little intimidating,” she recalled. “But everyone was there for the same reason. We were all starting over again.”

Schoening said her Fresh Start instructors were outstanding, guiding the students to focus on their interests and passions. “With me, it always went back to construction,” she said. “We kept discussing it and it always went back to the thing that I love.”

So, when she learned about DSC’s Building Trades and Construction Design Technology program she jumped at the opportunity.

The two-semester program teaches students how to apply basic construction techniques, read blueprints and specifications and develop trade skills in carpentry, masonry, electricity, plumbing and air conditioning. Students can earn industry credentials from the National Center for Construction Education and Research and apply program credits to the college’s Associate of Science in Industrial Management Technology degree.

Frank Snyder, chair of DSC’s School of Workforce Careers, said Ann’s work ethic and leadership skills are what earned her the program’s student of the year award last year during convocation. “She is a natural leader,” he said. “She was the most studious and kept her fellow students straight and on task.”

Those qualities also are what earned Ann a position as an adjunct instructor in the program, teaching dual enrollment students while also working on her AS in Industrial Management and continuing her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity.

“I try to emphasize to the kids that it’s easy to throw a hammer when you’re young, but it’s important to keep going to prepare for when you get older,” she said. “The goal of this course is to transition students to a higher level.”

She said it’s okay to be “non-traditional.”

“If you’re not cut out for office work, this is the way to go,” she said. “I couldn’t stand sitting in a cubicle. If you like to move around, meet people, do different things, even possibly be your own boss one day, this is the way to go.”

DAYTONA STATE MAGAZINE • FALL/WINTER 2018