"To know your future, you must know your past.” When I was a freshman, I only knew what I did not want to do with my life. Arts. History. Political Science, LIfe Science. etc. But figuring out what you don’t like doesn’t really help you declare a major. So I decided that because I naturally excelled at math and physics, engineering would make the most sense. My journey beings with deciding what kind of engineering. Biological, chemical, computer, electrical, mechanical or structural? Don’t feel connected to science. I like computers but still too abstract. Can’t visualize how circuits work. Between mechanical and structural, I realized that they were more or less the same field with different scales and tolerances. I enjoyed the intuitiveness inherent in force balance and static equilibrium. Structural Engineering was a rigorous program. Months of theory. Months of code-based design. Months of seemingly abstract concepts. Months of conditioning. I saw glimpses of the real world state-of-the-art from info sessions and knew that everything I was learning in school was kind of just a glorified hazing or initiation. I would do the real learning “on the job”. But then I realized, I don’t want to spend the rest of my working life crunching numbers inside a cubicle. There’s a reason I didn’t go into accounting! I started figuring this out during a summer internship where I was exposed to a life outside of hard-core engineering. I went on construction job walks, met with several different groups of people and that’s when I realized that I want my career to be filled with people and relationships (and fresh air). There’s tremendous value in knowing how to communicate with people. I’ve learned this first-hand from my mom who’s successfully climbed the corporate ladder. Communication can solve problems, can motivate others, synthesize relationships, and much more. So through each of my jobs throughout and after college, I was able to utilize my strong technical and quantitative background while working on my softer qualitative skills. This transition was mostly self-motivated and self-implemented. I continued the technical curriculum and disciplined myself through the program while keeping my eyes on the prize. I took public speaking courses. I wasn’t afraid to collaborate and meet with other students. I started a school organization. I worked as a tutor. I volunteered to build houses. I worked at a company who’s speciality was something only loosely familiar to me from a prior class. I put myself in difficult situations for the challenge and personal development. But to solidify my knowledge, experiences and opinions on the industry, I needed the background. Graduate school provided an excellent opportunity to go to a new place, meet new people, learn about progressive concepts and find my way to the perfect career. My history has been a compilation of experiences that have gradually molded me into a well-balanced, intellectually stimulated, discipline driven individual. And if I do some more digging and self-reflection, I notice that my lifestyle is centered around efficiency. Whether I am analyzing my personal finances, studying sustainability and energy or researching learn project delivery methods, I thrive on being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. So why construction? Why me? I’m from a diverse culture. I have the hard working traits from a hard-working Chinese family. I have an understanding and appreciation of other cultures and classes from my upbringing in New York. I am addicted to technology and in such an archaic industry like construction, technology is due to break ground (pun intended). I am a person of integrity and there is no other industry that is built so deeply into the fabric of the America. I love being engaged and hands-on with my work. I utilize both sides of my brain when pursuing hobbies like photography. I like the stability of working in an industry that will always be needed and will always be advancing. But I like the dynamic nature of that industry even more. Construction satisfies so many different aspects to my ideal job that it only makes sense. Within such a large industry, I don’t think I’ll ever be done learning. And if there’s any common theme between all of my experience thus far, this is it. |