OHIO — About 13% of women make up the construction industry nationwide and about 12% make up the industry in Ohio, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Boosting those numbers is a top priority on the state's list.

Jessica Sandoval-Vanegas, 18, started a carpentry program at the Fort Hayes Career Center a couple of years ago. She said she never saw herself getting into construction and knew nothing about it. That made her nervous.

“I didn't even know how to read a tape measure and that's like an important tool as a carpenter,” she explained.

Now in her senior year of high school, she's creating and building things with ease. She admitted she's faced some challenges and has often had to ask for help, but she's grateful she's in the program.

Sandoval-Vanegas is just one of four girls in the carpentry program at Fort Hayes. School officials said that number over the last few years has held steady. Sandoval-Vanegas hopes more girls will take part in the program even after she graduates.

Her message to girls coming into the program when she leaves is "to not give up and to ignore the haters because they really got nothing on you, and if you really put your mind to it, you really can become someone one day and even work in a construction company, a big construction company or even start your own company.” 

Sandoval-Vanegas added that girls wanting to succeed in construction should “keep trying to prove people wrong.”  She said she's put up insulation inside of a tiny house, and helped to build a shed and benches for Habitat for Humanity. Proud of the work she's been able to accomplish, she said it feels good to know that her work is around the city of Columbus.

Ultimately, Sandova-Vanegas wants to become a supervisor at a construction company and build her own home from scratch, but those aren't the only goals she has in mind.

“The other one is to build homes or at least sheds for the homeless because sometimes I see them around in the streets, and I'll feel bad for them because you'll have nowhere to live,” she said.

Ready to take on the world and make an impact, Sandoval-Vanegas graduates with honors in a few weeks and with lots of new skills in her toolbox. She has fingers crossed in hopes of getting a construction job by the time she graduates. While she waits, she hopes she can inspire other girls to get into the industry one at a time.