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Veronica Summers
loves to “flip” houses.
So when she came back to school in the summer of 2007 after a
20-year hiatus, it’s no surprise that she decided to study
drafting and design technology.
“When I walk into an older house, it’s easy for me to see what
door needs to be moved and which walls need to be taken out,”
says Summers, the mother of a teen-aged son and preteen
daughter. “I can see the finished product before I even start
it.”
Summers began flipping houses several years ago when she bought
a small house in Ft. Oglethorpe and had it moved to a small lot
she owned in Dalton.
“I had to arrange to get the footings and foundation in place
before they moved the house down here, and then I began to
remodel the inside. It turns out that the house had hardwood
floors under the carpet. They turned out to be beautiful. By the
time I finished remodeling, it turned out to be the cutest
little cottage you’ve ever seen.” |
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In addition to the personal satisfaction of creating a beautiful
home from what had been an eyesore, her efforts paid off in the
pocketbook as well. With a total investment of $40,000 in the
project, including the original cost of the house and its
relocation to Dalton, Summers turned a profit of more than
$45,000, selling the cottage for $95,000 after five months of
work.
Summers credits much of her success on this and three other
house-flipping projects to her innate understanding of
construction and her ability to “do stuff on the cheap.”
“Every time you do one of these remodels you learn a little bit
more about how the process works.”
Wanting to learn even more about the principles of design,
Summers returned to Dalton State two years ago and joined
basically a cohort group of students in the College’s drafting
and design program offered through the School of Technology.
“I have loved my drafting and design classes. I’ve made so many
good friends here, and while many are younger than I am, they
treat me like I’m one of them,” says Summers, who is 44.
“They’re awesome kids.”
Summers says that the fact that she’d been out of school for so
long and the fact that she knew she’d be older than many of her
classmates made her nervous initially about coming back to
school.
“I was scared to death at first,” she recalls. “I didn’t think I
could do it. But when I walked into my first class all of that
fear went away. I felt my brain start working again in a
different way.”
While at Dalton State, Summers has attended school full time,
and she’s worked up to 19 hours per week as a student worker in
the Office of Financial Aid, filing papers, scanning documents,
answering the phones, and helping students fill out their Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms.
In addition to attending class and her part-time job, Summers
has spent a great deal of time in the drafting lab perfecting
her skills. And she’s participated in the Drafters In Rigorous
Training (DIRT) club for students, going on field trips and
getting to know her classmates.
Summers expects to graduate with an Applied Associate of Science
in Drafting and Design Technology this summer, and her biggest
decision now is whether to pursue architectural drawing or
mechanical drawing.
“I can’t decide which I’d rather do. I really like them both,”
she says. She hasn’t ruled out the possibility of going into
business for herself, combining her experience as a house
flipper with the theories she’s studied in design.
And she’s also considering a return to the classroom, possibly
pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in
Management.
“I love this school, and I’d really like to come back and get a
degree in management. I’m sure it would help in the future.”
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