3 Gorges Dam

Phases

I’ve been learning a lot about phases lately. Phases of a construction project. Phases of a consumer product. Phases of the power industry. It’s all so interesting to me that on the whole, we fail to see perspectives other than what’s right in front of us. Memories fade and/or are suppressed and with the rapid influx of information from the Internet, our attention spans are diminishing. And although we are getting better about planning, our old habits and traditions are still chaining us down. 

Construction. This is the industry that literally built America. As such, it’s really difficult to try and tell someone who’s grown up in the industry, that there are better ways of doing things. On site, field experience usually trumps academia and it takes a special type of forward thinking and risk-willing individuals to lead by example. Individuals like this consider a building from cradle to grave. They consider ways to eliminate waste or improve efficiency. They never settle. The old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is severely flawed because if you don’t fix it, you’ll never grow or develop or become better.

Consumer products. I just did a research assignment on the life-cycle of a Coca-Cola can/bottle. Who knew the processes involved in getting that drink into your hand? Not to mention where it ends up after you finish it. For the amount of time it takes for you to finish it, the time it takes to produce and decompose the product is completely out of proportion. I think the biggest problem here is purely education or lack thereof. Maybe people don’t have time, don’t care, don’t know, know but don’t care/have time. And the only way to address this is to lead by example. I walk with my roommate twice a week to class and I’ll never forget the first time he stopped mid-stride to pick up a stray piece of litter. Even if you don’t care about the environment, you should at least care about your own integrity as a responsible human being and do the right thing. 

Power industry. The power industry, as we know it today, is going through phases as well. In the beginning, everyone had to fend for themselves by making their own electricity on site. Then, utility companies struck an agreement with the government to offer reasonably priced energy to consumers in return for a natural monopoly over the industry. As these companies got bigger, technological advancement began to level off, consumption rose and energy crises wreaked havoc. With help from people like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, the focus is being switched from increasing our energy supply to decreasing our energy demand. Going back to the old days by implementing new ways of thinking.

There are good and bad things about our past. For better or worse, we are where we are today because of our ancestors. But we can extract certain principles and ideologies from the past and couple them with new ways of thinking and new technology. We are superior to other species here on Earth for advanced reasoning skills. And yes, there will always be violence, extremists, differences, distractions, pessimists, etc., but to look back at our past and see how far we’ve come as a society gives me hope for a bright future.

Why construction?

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. 

SQUIRREL!

Yeaaap