Staff Sgt. Antonette Ventura’s path to becoming a sheet metal journey person took an unexpected detour when she was deployed to Saudi Arabia in late 2020, during the middle of her apprenticeship. Thanks to the support she found at the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) workers’ Local 88 training center in Las Vegas, however, her confidence in finishing the program never wavered.
Growing up in Hilo, Hawaii, Ventura is the first member of her family to venture into the unionized trades. She moved to Las Vegas to seek her future among the opportunities in the growing city, then found Local 88 while doing her job search. When she got the approval letter to come and test, she went in and performed well on the exam as well as the interview. The first two years of her apprenticeship went smoothly, and she took to the work — impressing her instructors as well as Ed Abraham, Local 88’s training director.