BUILDING ON CLASSROOM KNOWLEDGE

Twins Andrew and Matthew Guillot pour concrete foundation for career paths during paving internship

Twins Andrew and Matthew Guillot are seniors in ECU’s construction management program, housed in the College of Engineering and Technology. They are from Monroe. Matthew plans to graduate from ECU this fall, and Andrew next fall. They spent the summer working for Boggs Paving in the Charlotte-area.

Their coursework at ECU has provided foundational knowledge for the internship, Matthew and Andrew Guillot said. (Contributed photo)

As they describe it, their work was labor-intensive. Both were involved in carpentry work, “hammerin’ nails” and pouring concrete. “We did whatever was asked of us,” said Matthew Guillot. “We did it all,” Andrew Guillot added.

Since early April, most of their work centered on bridge work in the rural area surrounding Charlotte. The project, which was their first time on a bridge project, required stream diversion and to do that, Andrew and Matthew’s crew installed three barrels that formed a culvert to divert the water.

“I’ve always wanted to try bridge work,” said Matthew Guillot. “It was a little overwhelming because you feel like you’re in the way; everyone (on the crew) has been doing it.” Now that he’s done it, Matthew Guillot believes he has the hang of it.

“The college teaches you a lot of foundational knowledge,” said Matthew Guillot. “Just having that raw knowledge and when you see it on the job, you actually know what you’re looking at. It gives you the base, but you have to go out to build on that.”

“School teaches you the conceptual knowledge,” said Andrew Guillot. “If you’re not going out there and doing the physical work, you’re never going to know what it truly takes to get a project done.”

This summer’s work at Boggs was not the first for the Guillots. It’s the fifth time for Andrew and second for Matthew, who also interned for a residential construction company one year.