Life Is An Open Road

Hello!

I’ve been real busy with my summer internship, and it’s hard to continue blogging with no regular posting and a small audience, but here I go again. I’m going to tell you about my internship that seems what dreams are made of. I literally slept on this opportunity for quite a while. I’ve learned so much in a summer, and this was the first time in college I didn’t take a summer class. I believe that my internship has allowed me to work in learn in a new environment and open new roads of possibility for my career.

This opportunity came out of nowhere. Let’s flashback to late May. I had come home to Houston after a long semester at college. I left Austin with very little plans for the summer. My ultimate back-up plan was to work at my old job at Typhoon Texas. I was on the edge as I didn’t want to go back. I loved the job, but it seemed like such a disappointment for my future career as a professional engineer. So I was looking at every opportunity I could to better my career. I tried to apply for research. I was emailing recruiters on business cards I collected from EXPO.  I thought all hope was lost until I emailed a recruiter from CP&Y Inc. I had previously emailed this recruiter about a year ago searching for a internship last year in the middle of  the summer.

My history with CP&Y Inc. is rather quirky to say the least. I had previously visited the company for an externship in January of 2017, which is really an open house where the company shows young aspiring engineering students a glimpse of the daily work of an engineer. This was in their Austin office. That day, We did a mock public meeting. Then we did a site visit for a project where they were planning on building a new bridge on a historic road. Finally we went a tour of the different offices where they explained how they incorporated different fields of civil engineering into a design. Afterwards I kept in contact with CP&Y Inc. through EXPO and career fairs, but my interest were elsewhere.  I saw other firms I was interested in. I wanted a construction type of job building buildings, similar to  my interests from my first two years  of college in Architecture school. CP&Y Inc. has interests in many areas of civil engineering, but I landed in a interview with a Vice President of the company in the Transportation department in Houston, Texas in late May. I initially didn’t like transportation. Or at least my transportation class.

So, I tried to see what I liked about the department and what I could learn from this potential internship. I had a fantastic interview where I tried to be honest and sincere, and open myself to the things I didn’t initially like to learn something new. I wasn’t like  the interview I mentioned in “The Coffee Stains on My Resume,”but it went well enough that I got an offer.  I got the internship and started in early June in their Transportation/Roadway department. I learned a lot about using computer-aided drawing (CAD) programs such as Microstation  and Auto-CAD. I also learned how to navigate the transportation industry and how roads are designed properly, safely, and efficiently for public use. I worked on projects big and small from evaluating driveways along a highway,  traffic control plans for one-way streets in a small town and the expansion and reconstruction of a street.  I also visited a site in Beasley, where a road was going to be rebuilt and expanded to meet the nearby frontage road. The site visit was to interpret the flow lines in the area since the town was rather flat and existing flood channels where  placed based what the city needed.  Since CP&Y Inc. focuses on design work, I spent most of my time in the office. It was a great time meeting all the engineers, CAD operators, and seeing how a engineering firm operates. I wish I could get a little more experience beyond the office but I am grateful for the opportunity.

After finishing up my internship last month, I realized my future is an open road. I am keeping myself open to all opportunities as I learn more about the Civil Engineering and where I shall go. I’m ready to go whether the road takes me.

Until then,

The Nerd of May