SWC News Center

Building What Comes Next

By: Stephanie Kingston - October 10, 2026

Sometimes, the most meaningful opportunities are connected in ways you don’t see coming.

For Southwestern College student Eduardo Cordero, one opportunity led to another, creating a remarkable full-circle story involving an alumna, a scholarship, a campus career fair and one of the nation’s largest construction companies.

Cordero was the recipient of the Future ACE Leaders Scholarship: Architecture, Construction, Engineering, established through the Southwestern College Foundation by alumna Viry Martino. Just months later, a conversation at Southwestern College’s career fair helped Cordero land a summer internship with Turner Construction. Ironically it is where Martino works as a design manager on the New Terminal 1 project at San Diego International Airport.

For Martino, it was an unexpected connection to the scholarship she created to help students follow the same kind of path she once pursued at Southwestern College.

“I was a student at Southwestern College twenty years ago, and the college gave me so much,” Martino said. “It’s a privilege to give back to a place that influenced my life. And it’s even more rewarding to see the next generation beginning their own journeys.”

Cordero’s internship with Turner began with a simple question. While working toward his associate degree and building on his experience as a union carpenter, Cordero asked his career coach about internship opportunities. That led him to Southwestern College’s Career Connections department, where a counselor helped him strengthen his resume and prepare for his next step.

Then came the news that Turner Construction would be participating in the college’s career fair in March. It was the company’s first time participating in the event.

At the career fair, Cordero introduced himself to a Turner Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing superintendent. Impressed by Cordero’s experience and goals,he encouraged him to apply for an internship. Cordero went straight to the library and worked to submit an application. Days after, he received a phone call saying he had been selected.

“Creating an opportunity sometimes just starts with simply being willing to ask for work,” Cordero said.

When Cordero arrived at Turner for the summer, he quickly realized the internship would be much more than an opportunity to observe.

Rather than simply shadowing another employee, Cordero was given his own workspace and responsibilities. He learned to navigate Turner’s Quality Management Plan, review construction drawings, attend meetings, coordinate with subcontractors and track inspection requests. His field experience gave him a perspective that could not be learned from a classroom alone.

Cordero recognized deficiencies through his experience in the carpentry field. He already knew many of the subcontractors and trade partners because he had worked alongside them previously. However, now his role had changed. Former foremen and coworkers had become subcontractors he was responsible for coordinating with and holding accountable for documentation and inspections.

As he gained confidence, he was entrusted with increasing responsibility, coordinating with third-party inspectors and subcontractors, tracking outstanding items and helping ensure work was completed safely and correctly. The experience also changed how Cordero saw his own future.

“I realized that I was not as far behind as I initially thought,” he said. “My field experience has taken me a long way. I learned that the skills I developed as a carpenter could provide significant value in a professional construction environment.”

Cordero’s story is exactly the kind of journey Martino hoped her scholarship would support.

Two decades ago, Martino was a Southwestern College student herself. She participated in the MESA program, played on the women’s tennis team and worked as a math tutor in the Academic Success Center. She went on to the University of Southern California, where she earned degrees in civil engineering and construction management before beginning her career in the construction industry.

Now she is helping create opportunities for students who are standing where she once stood.

Her scholarship supports Southwestern College students pursuing careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Her scholarship helps remove financial barriers while encouraging them to pursue careers in industries where their skills and education can make an impact. And now, one of those students has found himself working alongside the very company where Martino has built her career.

The connection is more than coincidence. It is the kind of ripple effect that happens when alumni invest in their college, students take advantage of opportunities and employers open their doors to the next generation.

For Cordero, the experience reinforced a lesson that began with a question to his career coach and continued through a scholarship, a career fair and an internship: where you start does not have to determine where you finish.

As he continues his education, Cordero is carrying that lesson with him.

“What I once thought would be the highest level I could reach in my career has turned out to be only the beginning,” he said.

And in a way, his journey has come full circle.

A Southwestern College alumna gave back to the college that helped launch her career. Her scholarship helped support a student pursuing his own future in construction. That student walked into a Southwestern College career fair, introduced himself to Turner Construction and walked away with an opportunity that could shape the rest of his future.

One generation opened the door for the next.