Fabiola Forli Venegas can say she literally helped build her school.
She was awarded two internships with McCarthy Building Companies, which is constructing San Bernardino Valley College’s (SBVC) Student Services Building, slated for completion in Spring 2027. Over the course of six weeks, she watched as walls and the roof went up and plumbing and electricity were installed.
“It was beautiful to see how the building was developing from design,” said Fabiola, who is two classes from her associate degree in architecture and environmental design and has transferred to Cal Poly Pomona to study landscape architecture.
Her journey to SBVC started in Venezuela, where she worked and took management classes. She stayed home after her second child, who has autism, was born. When her husband landed a job in Yucaipa, California, the family moved to the United States and Fabiola, who speaks Spanish and Italian, signed up for local ESL classes to “polish” her English.
In 2022, she enrolled full-time at SBVC to study “something I can do remotely,” Fabiola said. At first, it was difficult because “I was the older one” in classes, but her fellow students and faculty were patient and helpful. She soon found her rhythm and joined the construction management club, received scholarships, and made the Dean’s List.
A professor connected her with the McCarthy internship, and she worked on the Student Services Building’s pre-construction phase in summer 2025. A year later, McCarthy asked her to return and focus on mockups, safety, design, and scheduling.
Looking back, Fabiola “can’t be more grateful to San Bernardino Valley College,” she said. “I recommend to any person who wants to improve their education, is a parent, or has experience in working, to come here. They guide you.”