January 4, 2024 • 47 mins
When Shelby Ophof swapped her marketing dreams for the concrete world of civil engineering, she did more than just change her major—she paved a path that many find daunting yet intriguing. Join us as Shelby, a civil engineer with a story as strong as the foundations she designs, spills the beans on her career transition, her coffee-review podcast adventures, and life's unexpected turns. She's not just shaping skylines; she's shaping her narrative, one candid conversation at a time.
Tune in and get a taste of how a love for mathematics and an inspiring chat over a family dinner can lead to a fulfilling career in civil engineering. Shelby takes us through the electric experience of finding her passion, the critical role of internships, and the revelations that come with stepping into the professional sphere. Whether you're an extroverted communicator or prefer the precision of numbers, Shelby's journey underscores the universal truth that the right experiences can steer you towards your niche.
Ever wondered how soft skills stack up against technical expertise in the world of civil engineering? Shelby dissects the essentials of communication, the merits of extroversion, and the art of striking a balance between academic rigor and soaking up the full college experience. If you're contemplating a career that blends creativity with calculation, let Shelby's insights bridge the gap between curiosity and action. Her story isn't just about building structures; it's about constructing a career that resonates with who you are. Don't miss this blueprint for professional and personal growth—only on Clever Angle.
We are on the road to reaching 1K downloads per episode by the end of the year, so if you could share this episode that would help us out a lot! What careers do you want to hear about next??
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome back to another episode of the clever
angle podcast.
I'm your host, tevin McGee, andtoday I have Shelby Opaugh.
She is a civil engineer here inJonesboro and she's gonna be
talking to us about her careerand I'm excited to hear about it
.
Shelby, thank you for beingwith us today.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You were telling me off air that you used to host a
podcast.
Yes, tell us a little bit aboutit.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So I started a podcast with my best friend,
caitlin, my junior year ofcollege, which is whenever
things start getting prettydifficult with engineering.
So I guess I picked like theworst time to start a podcast.
But for a couple of months wewould try a different coffee
every week, whether it be like anew way of brewing coffee or
like a new type of latte orwhatever.
(01:04):
We would try a new coffee andgive a little review, and then
we would have a topic for thatweek that we would talk about,
and episodes lasted anywherefrom 30 minutes to an hour.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Where'd you get that idea from?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We both love coffee and we both love to talk and we
both think that we're funny, andso we would always joke about
starting a podcast.
And then one day her boyfriendnow husband was like then do it,
let's start one, because heknows how to do all of the
setting up and editing and allof that stuff.
So he actually pushed us to dowhat we were joking about doing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I will definitely put the link to the podcast in the
show notes and I guess I'll bethe judge if you guys are funny
or not.
We'll just start with a fewicebreaker questions.
I've got a deck of cards herefor interviews.
The first one, I kind of justpicked three random ones out
here.
Who would play you in a movie?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
I would always I used to always say Emma Stone,
because red hair, but I've beentold a lot lately that I look
like Emily Osment.
Do you know who that is?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I'm not familiar with her work.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
She plays Lily in Hannah Montana.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yes, so I've had multiple people come up and tell
me that I look like her, whichI take as a compliment, and I've
even had family say it too.
So I'm like, oh, I guess shewould.
I guess she would play me ifshe looks the most like me and
she's a good actress.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Next question I have is who isyour favorite hero in fiction,
in fiction.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Hmm, man, in fiction is hard Probably.
I don't even know if this wouldcount as a hero, but I want to
say Katniss Everdeen.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Okay, does that count ?
No, katniss is definitely ahero.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Okay, yes, I loved the Hunger Games.
I still love Hunger Games.
Yeah, I love the Hunger Games.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Did you read the books or just watch the movies?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Books.
I've read the books multipletimes, but I have seen all the
movies and they were all good,but those were my jam growing up
.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I definitely think Catching Fire is my favorite.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yes, it's my favorite too.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I really enjoyed watching that for you is what is
your recurring nightmare?
Oh Like do you have any dreamsthat you have to?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
It's like scary, is that?
Okay, yeah, yeah, okay I so.
My mom is, like my best friend,one of my favorite people on
the planet top three and I will,every couple of weeks, have a
nightmare that she passes away.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yes, I know that's so morbid yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I know, but it's reoccurring.
It's the only one I everremember.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, I'm definitely one of those people that I don't
really remember my dreams a lot, but every now and then I'll
have something that's like supervivid.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I need to look into what really causes that, because
that's an interesting subjectfield.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Sleep studies need to interview a sleep scientist.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I don't know what they're called.
Anyone that's listening.
If you know a sleep scientistthat would want to come on the
show, I want to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
That'd be cool.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, so let's just dive into your career and just
your origin story a little bit.
Can you give a brief summaryabout who you are, where you're
from?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yes, my maiden name is Blankenship, so my name is
Shelby Blankenship, now Opoff.
I was born and raised inParagold, arkansas, just about
20 miles north of where we areright now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Did you go to Paragold or Tech?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Paragold Okay, yeah, my mom taught there.
So I went there K through 12and then I grew up with divorced
parents.
I lived manually with my momand then I would see my dad like
every other weekend and thensometimes on Tuesdays, and then
I came to A state for college soI didn't move very far.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
What do your parents do for work?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
My mom used to be a teacher.
She was a teacher for 16 yearsand then this is why she's my
hero.
If he would have saidnon-fictional, I would have said
my mom.
She went to get her masters ineducation and federal programs
while she was single with threegirls and working two jobs, and
(05:16):
so now she is actually used tobe the superintendent, the
assistant superintendent, atHarrisburg schools and Ashley is
the superintendent there.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's awesome.
Yeah, so you have two sisters.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yes, I have two sisters Do you have any brothers
or just?
I have One stepbrother and oneadopted brother.
So my dad he was a farmer for25 years and now he's a banker,
he does aglending and he adoptedmy little brother.
And then I also have astepbrother on my dad's side.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Do you have any memories from your childhood
that just stand out?
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I like always vividly remember my mom ordering pizza
and us sitting in the livingroom and eating brick oven pizza
specifically, and watchingdancing with the stars.
We would do that all the time.
I think my mom just loved it.
But my mom had a gift where shecan make anything fun.
(06:15):
She just makes anything andeverything fun, and so like we
didn't have a whole lot of moneygrowing up, but she always made
everything fun.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I love dancing with the stars and American Idol and
yes, we watched America's GotTalent.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
So Janne are currently watching the Voice
right now.
So, she loves to ugly, cry topeople's stories, and something
that we do.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
I did that on America's Got Talent.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
For sure.
So what are some of yourhobbies and things you like to
do outside of work?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I love to read.
I've got a book sitting righthere.
I read any chance that I get.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Do you usually read like fiction, nonfiction,
everything?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Everything I went.
I got into a kick where I likedAmerican classics and so I own
a lot of American classics.
But I've been reading a lot ofsci-fi too lately, but like that
room in there has about 400books in it.
Do you have any bookrecommendations.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I've recently got back into reading, so what type
of book do you like?
I like sci-fi and.
I like like self-help books andproductivity books and things
like that, but my favoritefiction series as a kid was by
James Patterson.
Yeah, it was the Maximum Ridebooks.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I love those books.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Did you ever read I don't even know if he wrote
these did you ever read the likethe Sint books that he I
thought it was him that wrote it?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I think it was James Patterson.
I've never read them.
Are they any good?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
They're so good, I have three of them in there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Okay, yeah, yeah, for sure, like, legitimately you
can borrow one if you like.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
They're about, like kids, time traveling, and I read
them in high school and there'sphenomenal so I do remember
that series and.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'll take you up on that, because I'm trying to get
like a a balance of differenttypes of books.
You know that I'm reading, so Ilike to listen to a lot of
stuff on Audible.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So I'm listening to stuff on Drive-In and we lend
out books like all the time, soyou're welcome to go in there
after we record and look throughand grab some.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, and definitely look through your personal
library for sure.
In your own words, can you givethe listeners a definition of
what is civil engineering?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah.
So I actually didn't even knowwhat it was until I started with
the major.
I just knew that I loved mathand that I loved building with
Legos.
But civil engineering, in anutshell, is the design and like
the maintenance andconstruction of anything in an
(08:41):
infrastructure that isstationary, which is like hard
to explain.
So a civil engineer designedthe structure of the building
that we're in right now and acivil engineer designed the
foundation of this building sothat this building doesn't sink
into the ground because there'sa bunch of clay in Arkansas.
That's why we're so good withfarming, because we have the
(09:02):
clay that's perfect for ricefarming.
Horrible for infrastructuredesign, because clay sinks.
Civil engineer designed thefoundation of it.
A civil engineer designed allof the utilities, like the sewer
, the water, the storm drainageof everything in Jonesboro and
the roadways.
There's a lot of differentthings that you can go into a
(09:23):
civil engineering, so you can doinfrastructure design, which is
what I do.
You can do environmentalengineering, transportation
engineering, structuralengineering, which I'm wanting
to get my masters in becauseit's really cool, but there's
like a huge like expanse ofdifferent jobs that you can get
with it.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
So when you said stationary, what would be an
example of something that's notstationary?
Okay, so who would design carsand things like that?
A mechanical engineer.
Mechanical engineer.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And then like conveyor belts high troll, they
do.
Conveyors and mechanicalengineers design those, yeah, so
anything that's moving.
Basically I always joke aboutthat that like mechanical
engineers design things that aresupposed to move and civil
engineers design things that arenot supposed to move.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Okay, okay, that's a good way to come with that.
I've always wondered that.
So what would you, what wouldit like an electrical engineer
fall in?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
They design iPhones actually so an electrical
engineer designed an iPhone.
They do a lot of stuff.
It's similar to mechanical.
Their majors were just.
Their classes were very similar.
They do a lot.
They have a lot of computerscience in theirs, so there's a
lot of coding involved withelectrical engineering.
A lot of times whenever peoplethink electrical engineering
they think electrician but it'smore of like the design aspect
(10:41):
of it, so they can like designelectrical systems for a
building.
I actually had an electricalengineering major on my senior
design team last year and oursenior design project was to
design a new building for thecomputer science and engineering
college at A-State and so Idesigned the superstructure of
it, like all of the foundationand all of the columns and the
(11:03):
reinforcement in them andeverything, and then he designed
the electrical layout of howeverything would work and get
put back into the system.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So when you say electrical, like design and
things like that, so are we justtalking about, like, how the
lights are going to be in thebuildings, or because an iPhone
is a lot different than like theinfrastructure of a layout of a
building?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
or something.
Yes, in the same way that, like, designing of the foundation of
this building is completelydifferent from designing a sewer
system, those two engineerscivil engineers did both of
those things, and an electricalengineer can design an iPhone or
design an electrical layout ofa building.
I don't know a ton about itbecause I only ever took
circuits in college, but I doknow there are a whole bunch of
(11:50):
codes that they have to meet andthere's a whole lot of ins and
outs with like electricity.
You can't have too much, youcan't have too little.
There's a certain level youhave to meet to be able to
supply everything, and yeah,that's.
That's pretty much as far as myknowledge goes.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
With it, though, that's fascinating me and my
brother talk about things likethat all the time about, like
how things work and how awesomeit is to be able to have an
iPhone that can do all thethings that it can do.
So you mentioned liking math.
Can you tell us a little bitabout what was your school and
like high school, junior high,or did you always excel in math
and did you always see yourselfgoing into a career like that?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I was definitely an overachiever growing up, which
it wasn't actually instilled inme by my parents.
My parents were never like youhave to make good grades or blah
I was.
I always just put that pressureon myself like I wanted to
excel and do well.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What do you think that came came from I?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
have no clue.
I have no clue.
I think.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Just in you.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, it's just the determination in me.
Yeah, it wasn't even like acomparison thing to other people
, it was just like I loved thelike how I felt whenever I had
done well on something.
But it was never pressured ontome like by either of my parents
growing up at all.
But I started loving mathactually in middle school.
I could tell you the exactteacher that it was.
(13:12):
I'll probably send him the linkto this podcast.
His name's Jerry Dixon.
He was my sixth grade mathteacher and I.
That was when we first startedlearning a lot of algebra.
So that's whenever thevariables were introduced,
whenever you start adding theletters, and I just loved it.
I loved the problem solving.
I loved the way that my brainhad to think whenever I was
(13:34):
solving all of these problemsand the way that he taught was
phenomenal and made it more,made it really fun.
And from then on out, myfavorite subject was math and I
in high school I took two extramath than I needed to graduate
because I loved it so much.
So it was just yeah, that wasmy favorite.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, that's definitely interesting.
I think there would be a lot ofpeople that would disagree with
you.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Math being their favorite.
But that's cool that you foundsomething in sixth grade that
you really latched onto.
You're in high school now.
You're getting ready tograduate.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
What was your plan looking like going into college?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I went all over the place.
I actually, for a second,thought about majoring in
marketing just because I reallywanted to work for the St Louis
Cardinals.
That was why I love baseball.
I love watching the Cardinals.
I used to watch them with mydad growing up.
I still keep up with them andso I started out wanting to do
marketing.
And then I started looking into, okay, what are ways that I can
(14:37):
use my gifts and my passion formath and still work for them.
And so then I was gonna dostatistics.
I was gonna get my masters instatistics and be a statistician
for the Cardinals, so basically, do all of the math and the
logarithm still come up withtheir stats, which sounds so
cool to me still, and then Iactually call it.
(14:59):
You know how there are justlike singular moments in your
life that like completely shiftthe trajectory of how your
life's gonna go.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah.
So this single moment my dadhad a friend over at his house.
His name's Casey, I think.
He went to high school with mymom.
He's a chemical engineer.
He was over and I was a juniorin high school he was like
Shelby, what are you gonna do,as most people ask you?
You're a junior and senior yearof high school and I was like I
(15:29):
think I'm gonna be astatistician for the Cardinals.
And he was an engineer.
And so he looked at me.
He was like you should lookinto engineering.
I think that you would enjoy it.
And that was all he said.
And that one moment I was like,okay, I'll look into
engineering.
It was pretty Vangellan aboutit and I spent the next like
week or so researching whatengineering was and then decided
(15:49):
that I was gonna do it likewithin a couple of days.
Like that one sentence thatsomeone said to me like shifted
my whole life.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's interesting.
So how did you come up with?
Because it seems like all ofthe engineering's have to do
with math.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
To some degree.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
How did you with civil engineering?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I actually started out mechanical.
My first semester I wasmechanical engineering and I
interned at high troll, whichwas a great place to work.
I loved it.
Mechanical isn't just the waythat my brain worked, but that's
one of the really cool thingsabout engineering.
Like within civil engineering,you have different types of
people whose brains workdifferently and they go into
different fields, but it's thesame way in the umbrella of
(16:29):
engineering.
My brain just works differentlythan a mechanical engineer's,
does they?
The classes that they took thatwe would have to take.
I just couldn't ever wrap mymind around.
My brain just didn't work thatway, and that's okay.
But they would take classesthat were the foundation of
civil engineering and they justcouldn't wrap their mind around
(16:50):
it, and those classes were myfavorite, and so a lot of their
classes were movement, so likemovement of fluids, movement of
machines, movement of materialsand like all of the math and
physics behind all of that, andthen ours, the basis of civil
engineering, is one class.
You could go into a civilengineering career and use this
(17:12):
one class easily.
It's called statics, which isstationary.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And it's basically we would always laugh about how
you can sum up statics in oneequation, and it's the sum of
the forces equals zero.
You want all of your forces toequal zero so that this isn't
moving.
This object is not moving andyou're having to do all of the
math and physics at differentangles and everything to
determine where this object isgoing.
(17:40):
And that was my favorite classI ever took all of college.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So are there classes that, no matter which
engineering path that you take,that you have to take?
Yes, yeah, what are thoseclasses?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Static is one of them .
We all had to take dynamics,which is a lot like statics and
it was a very similar to physicsA lot of vectors, which is
basically like an equation thatdescribes an object and movement
.
So if I throw a baseball andyou know how tall I am and you
(18:14):
know how much force I put intothrowing that baseball and what
angle I threw it at, you candetermine how high it's going to
go and how far it's going to goand how much the force is going
to be on its ground.
That's the stuff that we woulddo.
And then, as a civil engineer,we got to choose between
thermodynamics and electricalcircuits, which is a mechanical
and an electrical class, and Ichose electric circuits because
(18:37):
it sounded cool and I wanted todo it and I have a computer
science minor, so I thought itwould help a little bit with it.
That's fascinating.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So with that minor do you know how to code in?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
it.
Yes, I, yes.
I think the hardest class Itook was a coding class in
college.
It was called object orientedprogramming and Is that like
Python?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
What kind of.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
We did C++.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
C++.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, which is very intricate is the best word I can
come up with but we were likewe were basically just given a
problem and I had to write acode that would solve it but
also follow all of the sentencestructure of it.
So basically, whenever you'recoding, you're creating the
bridge language between a humanand the computer, and it was
(19:24):
just a completely different wayof thinking.
And the way of thinking andcoding I felt helped me a lot
with my engineering stuff too,because of just the problem
solving aspect of it.
You can't like Google theEnglish.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, we talked a little bit earlier before we
started about different podcaststhat we listened to and there
was a year or two where I wentdown like a rabbit hole on how
to learn how to code.
And there was this podcast.
It was called Learn to Codewith Me.
So it would be.
The host would bring ondifferent people that would have
(19:57):
transitioned from like ateacher or some other degree and
now they've learned how to codeand taken the course of it and
taken jobs in the tech space.
That's cool that you got to dosome of that in your minor,
because computers and thingslike that have always fascinated
me.
Do you have to use any of thatin your job, like any coding or
anything?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Not really.
Right now we have an ITdepartment that does all of that
stuff, but I also I tookclasses like operating systems
and things like that, and so byfar not an expert solving OS
problems.
Don't get me wrong, but I notin my job now, but in my
previous job we had a problemcome up where we were trying to
(20:38):
get a specific type of file towork with our program and I was
like I just know that there's away that we can switch this file
type in the operating system.
I just don't remember how to doit and it took me a little bit
of researching and then itclicked in my brain.
I was like, yes, okay, Iremember now and I was able to
show my boss how to switch thisfile type over using the
(20:59):
operating system, like using the, the MR I don't even remember
what it's called using theinterface that you code in to
switch over the file type.
No, that's it.
It hadn't done it in threeyears.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You're in your undergrad degree and were you
required to do an internship?
I know you said you did aninternship with.
Did you say hydro?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yes, I interned with them, for I was with them from
spring of 2019 when I graduatedhigh school.
So I started with them theFriday after I graduated high
school and then I was with themuntil December of 2020.
And then I actually moved tosome architects.
So I interned at anarchitecture firm here in town
(21:48):
for two years.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And this wasn't through ASU?
No, they didn't requireanything.
Which is terrifying yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I wish they would.
Most people ended up gettinginternships, but a lot of people
had jobs and couldn't becausethey had their paying for their
own school.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
So how did you find these internships, these
opportunities?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I troll.
I actually job shattered anengineer my senior year and that
was how I Like got in therebecause my school did a job
shadowing thing with seniors andthen In with the architects.
I knew that I wanted to dosomething with building
infrastructure, whether it bestructural or what I'm doing now
with infrastructure design.
I knew I wanted to do that andthere were no civil engineering
(22:29):
internships open and Architectswork a lot very closely with
civil engineers because of thesite design aspect of it, and I
literally just called thisarchitecture firm and asked if
they wanted to hire an internand they were like, yeah, come
in tomorrow for an interview.
So I went in for an interviewand I worked there for two years
.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So they don't require you to have an internship.
Would this be something thatrecommend to somebody that wants
to get into?
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I know that my experience in internships is
what got me the job that I haveright now, so the job that you
have right now, is this yourfirst job like officially.
I actually interned at adifferent job for my last
semester of college, just springof my senior year.
It was literally the only thingavailable and it was in
(23:21):
transportation, which is greatand we need it.
It's just I'm not interested init.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
So with transportation, would that be
mechanical engineering, or isthat be still be civil?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
It's still be civil, which is a very common
misconception, because withtransportation engineering,
you're not designing the cars ordesigning the roadways.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Oh, okay, that's what you mean by that.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, yeah, we did pavement design.
So there's got to be like aspecific like.
Every type of pavement isdifferent, it's based on the
vehicle loading and theenvironment and what materials
are available and all of thisother stuff, and there's a lot
to do with like flood elevations.
So flood elevation is veryimportant in my career too.
We're in a flood zone right nowbecause of you just think of
(24:01):
all of the rivers that arearound us.
So there are different areasthat are discernment as flood
zone areas, which means they arelikely.
They have a 1% chance offlooding within the next 100
years, which doesn't seem likemuch, but it's pretty far up
there in like the grand scheme.
And so we have to design all ofour roadways and all of our
(24:23):
buildings based off of thisflood elevation, and so that's
gets into a lot of liketransportation engineering as
well.
And then a lot of roadwaydesign is also whenever you're
going around a curve and it likesuper elevates to the side, we
have to determine the degree ofthat super elevation so that the
car doesn't flip over, based onthe speed and the weight of the
car and all of that stuff, andthere are different codes that
(24:47):
you have to meet with how big ofa turn you can pull off with a
certain speed that the car isgoing.
So it's based on this postedspeed.
And then there's a lot oftraffic engineering involved,
where you're studying crashesand the reasons for crashes,
which gets into like humanbehaviors, which was difficult.
So it's very interesting though.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
So take me through the interview process of the job
that you're currently at rightnow.
What was that like and whatdoes the interview look like for
a civil engineering job?
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, this was, I guess, my first experience, so I
get it could be completelydifferent for other people.
But I actually found the job onLinkedIn because I've got a
LinkedIn account and my boss atmy other job knew that I didn't
want to do transportationengineering long term, like I
had told him that whenever I gotthe internship, so he was aware
(25:42):
of that.
But I basically read about thiscompany and did a quick like
follow them on LinkedIn and thenone of their HR people reached
out to me and said hey, I seeyou're open to work and that
you're in Jonesboro.
We actually just started a newlocation in Jonesboro and we're
(26:04):
hiring a civil engineer, whichstands for engineer intern,
which is technically what I am.
So is a license.
So I had to take a license examlast year that I passed and I
got my EI license and then Iwork in my field for at least
three years it can be more andthen I take my PE exam, which is
(26:25):
my professional engineeringlicense, and then my name is
what gets stamped on projects.
That'll be another three years.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Is it like that, that kind of licensing procedure for
all engineers?
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yes, and actually for structural you have to take an
extra one.
So you have your FE, which isthe one I've passed, and then
you have your PE, and then youhave your SE, your structural
engineering license, and so,because their work is so
important, like it can't fail Ifa roadway fails, it's very
different from a buildingcollapsing they have to take an
(26:57):
extra license exam.
I guess I just like to makethings harder myself because
that's what I want to do.
But yeah, this lady in HR waslike we're actually hiring a
civil engineer, ei, can I set upan interview with you?
And I said yes.
So we talked on the phone forabout an hour and then she
scheduled me an interview withthe now boss at Craft Toll,
(27:18):
which is where I work, and wehad about an hour and a half
interview and then I heard fromthem, probably two or three days
later after that interview, andthey sent me the offer letter
with everything on it and wantedto offer me the job.
It was a pretty quick process,not very stressful.
I think that they interviewedthree other people.
(27:40):
That's what my boss told me.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Okay, so you accept the offer.
You're super excited about that.
What is your first day on thejob?
Look like.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So I walk in and I have my own office, which is I'm
flabbergasted by having my ownoffice, and they sent me in my
office, show me how to log intomy computer, like what my
username is, all of this stuff.
And then on the very first daythey do a training orientation
(28:11):
and they have a trainingorientation every two weeks, so
they try to have new hires startevery two weeks, clockwork and
it's a pretty big company.
We've got over 300 employeesand we're hiring people all the
time.
John'sboro is actually thesmallest location when we have
nine people there, but the CEOactually is in this training and
(28:33):
is talking to all of us andhe's talking to all of us like
where his equal, not like hissubordinate, which I really
appreciated about him.
He just talked to us all likewe were old friends and they
just walk through the process ofour benefits and what the
training process is gonna looklike and yeah, so my first day
(28:56):
was mainly spent doing this liketraining session.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
So was this your first job, or in high school, or
anything?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, I worked through high school.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, I worked through high school.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I worked at a gas station for about six months.
It was horrible.
I was 16 and I would work bymyself from four to 11 on school
nights.
It was horrible.
And then I worked as a salesassociate at a place called
Factory Connection in Perigold.
Love it Still.
Love all the people there.
I just left because I went tocollege, but I was there for
(29:29):
three years.
I loved it there.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
So, Okay, you got set up and what have you been
working on at this job since?
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Got in the best way possible.
They basically threw me in thedeep end and wanted me to learn
how to swim, which is I honestlyappreciated, that I didn't feel
micromanaged or anything andthat they trusted me to ask the
right questions when I needed toask them.
So the way that my boss trainsis by giving me a project and
(30:01):
giving me the information I needand allowing me to ask the
questions that I need to solvethe problem, which I really
appreciate.
And right now, on a day to day,I'm semi-managing a lot of my
own projects.
I'll go to my boss for a lot ofthings, but as far as just the
day to day of a project, I'mdoing the.
(30:21):
I mainly do site design, whichincludes grading and drainage,
so making sure water flow iswhere it's supposed to go
without any flooding happeningor ponding, which can cause
erosion and is a whole issue.
And then I do sewer design andwater design and erosion control
, and a lot of that deals withflood elevations, like I talked
(30:41):
about earlier, and I'm likeemailing clients, emailing fire
marshals, emailing R dot,emailing the city of Jonesboro,
talking to city water light,because we have a whole bunch of
codes that we have to meet, andso I'm just trying to meet all
these codes with our projects.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I was just gonna ask you if that relationship with
city, water and light, if youhad one with them.
My sister works there so Ididn't know that that was like a
some kind of what capacity youwork at the city.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I talked to them for just about every project that we
have in Jonesboro, which ismost of my projects, really.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yes, I'll have to ask her, but my sister actually
works in the engineeringdepartment.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Oh really, yeah, I see water and light.
She probably assumed my name,probably.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So what projects are you working on right now?
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Man, there's so many.
We actually just wrapped up aproject in Pocahontas at Pico
Foods, designed the sitedrainage utilities, all of that
for a new expansion calledcontrol atmosphere stunning at
Pico Foods because they havechickens, so it's a more humane
way to like basically kill thechickens.
(31:50):
And now McDonald's and a lot ofplaces are requiring that this
controlled stunning be used onthe chickens because it's the
most humane way, and so we hadto design.
We were given the floor plan ofthe expansion and we just
designed all of the civilaspects of it.
And then I'm working on quite afew smaller projects.
(32:12):
So I have a bunch of very smallsize projects, all less than
five acres.
So I've got a couple ofapartment complexes that I'm
designing the drainage and I'vegot a rezoning where we're
trying to rezone a couple ofthings which gets into real
estate, which is not what Iwould expect to be doing.
But if a plot of land is acommercial three zone and we
(32:38):
wanna bring it to a residentialone zone, there's a whole
process you have to go throughwith the city to get that
approved and the council has tovote on it.
So I've got a ton of just likesmaller projects so that I can
learn quicker, so that it'sdoesn't take as long, basically,
to do all of the design.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
So would you say that there was a big shock going
from learning about this stuffto actually applying it.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yes, I have learned more in the last three months
than I did in school, which iswhat every engineer says, and I
love A-State.
That is not a dis on A-State.
I got a very good education atA-State and I would go back and
redo it again at A-State if Iwas given the choice.
But you just learn morewhenever you're in the field,
and civil engineering schooldoesn't even get into a whole
(33:28):
lot of infrastructure design.
It mainly focuses on structuraland environmental and water.
That's the three main thingsthat we had classes in.
And transportation we had sometransportation, but
infrastructure design and likesite stuff like I'm doing wasn't
really taught, because it's sohands on and every project is so
(33:49):
different, because you've gotso many different people
involved and every site looksdifferent, and so I've
definitely learned so much inthe last three months.
Like every week it feels likeI'm drinking out of a fire hose.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, yeah, just information overload.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yes, but I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
So how long have you been doing this position?
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I've been there since September 5th.
I started the day after LaborDay, so I see you remember.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Okay, okay.
So what are some skills outsideof school that you think are
essential for being a good civilengineer?
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Definitely people skills which you wouldn't expect
.
So I have to talk to a lot ofclients.
I have to, like professionalism, I have to be able to
communicate with my clients andwith the city and with a bunch
of important people that haveway more knowledge than I do.
Just like effectivecommunication is really
important.
And also effectivecommunication in the sense of
(34:49):
answering your emails and beinggood at communicating a problem
or a question so that it's clearto the person that you're
talking to, so that they cananswer it appropriately for you.
And also humbleness, like youhave to humble yourself whenever
you're coming into a completelydifferent career and atmosphere
and we have a student intern,so I'm not technically at the
(35:10):
bottom of the totem pole, butbesides the student intern, I am
, and so just being humble andknowing that you don't know
everything and allowing peopleto teach you is important.
I don't think you can learneverything that you need to
learn if you go into it with anattitude of thinking everything
that's a big one.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Would you consider yourself introverted or
extroverted?
Does this change like insideand outside of work?
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Definitely extroverted.
I would not say it changes.
I actually got married inOctober and I was gone for about
a week on my honeymoon and Igot back and everybody in the
office was like it was so quietwithout me because I just talk
all the time.
So definitely extrovert.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, no, that's cool .
Do you think that to besuccessful in engineering, that
is something that, if you're anintrovert, that you need to
develop some of thoseextroverted skills because you
said people skills is veryimportant effective
communication.
Do you think that's somethingthat you would have to do if?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I don't think you necessarily would have to be
an extrovert which I'm anextrovert to an extreme, Like
I'm at 100% there's.
No, I'm not in the middle byany means, but I definitely
graduated with some introvertedpeople that are gonna be really
good engineers and they'reeffective communicators, but
they only communicate when theyhave to, which is absolutely
(36:32):
fine.
So effective communication isdefinitely, I wouldn't say, a
requirement, but it's a skillthat should be learned if you're
gonna do your job well and youwant to excel at your job and
maybe one day get a raise ormove up or whatever.
But being an extrovert isn't.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Do you have any tips for kind of developing that
skill?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I mean talking to people is one Getting advice
from someone wiser than you notnecessarily older, but wiser.
We learned a lot ofprofessionalism in school, but a
lot of it is just by doing.
I learned by emailing peopleand making mistakes.
I actually the other day I wasnot paying attention to what I
(37:18):
was doing and I accidentallysent the wrong email to the
wrong person and I had torespond and immediately
apologize to them and that wasmy fault.
I wasn't paying attention towhat I was doing.
But I learned from my mistakeand I'm gonna double check where
I'm sending an email from nowon, just like learning from your
mistakes.
And yeah, professionalism is aweird thing because I feel like
(37:42):
I'm still so young so I wouldn'tbe able to teach
professionalism to someone.
But from what I've learned,it's just been by doing and
watching other people that arewiser than me.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Did you ever take like oral calm in school?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yes, I do get in high school wait and to college and
college yes.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
How was that experience for you?
Because it's one of thosethings that I feel like I have
to exert so much energy.
When I'm overly extroverted, inthe right situations, it comes
natural for me.
But given a speech or something, or something that.
I could do it, but I alwaysjust felt so drained afterwards.
How was your experience doingOrocom?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
I'm actually the exact same way.
I love talking one-on-one likethis, what we're doing right now
.
I could do this for another sixhours and be fine, but if I get
put up on a stage in front ofpeople I'm going to pass out.
I it's just something about it.
I struggled with Orocom reallybad and I ended up doing fine in
both of them, but a lot of itwas the memorization aspect.
(38:44):
So my speeches were always oversomething I just had to
memorize.
It was never over something Iwas really passionate about.
But with my job, if I know whatI'm talking about and I'm able
to go to someone and tell themabout what I'm doing and ask a
question, my mind is so focusedon what I'm talking about that
I'm not even paying attention tothe people looking at me.
And Orocom was not like that.
(39:06):
It was very different.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yeah, it's just I don't know.
There's just something veryunnerving about just a whole
bunch of eyes on you and they'relistening and even if they're
like, yeah, gosh, it's tough.
And it's one thing that I likeabout podcasting is okay.
I can talk to somebodyone-on-one and then I can just
put it out until the ether andy'all can listen to it but it's
(39:28):
not me there actively gettingthat feedback or looks or things
like that.
Definitely excel in the smallergroup settings, for sure.
So, that's interesting.
Where do you see yourselfcareer-wise in five years?
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Five years man.
I really enjoy my company, so Iwould like to still be with
them.
I really like them a lot, justtheir attitude about things and
the way they treat theiremployees.
It's been a really good placeto work and everyone else I work
with says the same thing andthere are a lot of opportunities
internally to move up and I'mwanting to do structural
(40:07):
long-term, which, if thatdoesn't work out, I do enjoy
what I'm doing right now and Ican always do both.
I know a ton of engineers thathave a geotechnical license and
a transportation license, so itwouldn't be weird for me to get
a structural license and aninfrastructure license.
But I would like to be doingsome kind of structural work,
hopefully within this company,but thankfully it's all over the
(40:29):
state and so we couldrelatively move anywhere and I
can either work in a differentoffice or work remotely.
I would be okay with any ofthose.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
That's interesting that you said you could do civil
engineering remotely.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Is there something that you'd be interested in, or
do you like the aspect of beingaround people in the office?
Speaker 1 (40:50):
I do love the aspect of being around people.
I was actually given the optionof working remotely whenever I
started, and I didn't want to,but it's an option for if I go
on a trip or something, I canbring my laptop with me and our
laptops plug into our computermonitors and so everything is
projected onto our two computermonitors.
But I can just unplug myginormous gaming laptop and take
(41:15):
it with me and do everything Ineed to do on it and just call
my boss if I have a question orsomething.
But all of the files andeverything that I need is within
that computer, that operatingsystem.
It's very nice.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
So what is some advice thatyou'd give to somebody that's
wanting to get into the field Ifyou had to give them a roadmap
on if you want to become a civilengineer.
This is what you need to startdoing today to get there.
What's the roadmap to becominga civil engineer, in your
opinion?
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Definitely get an internship.
The people that had internshipshad better got the jobs.
The people that had theinternships got the jobs.
I guess there's no way tosugarcoat that.
And don't worry about yourgrades.
Obviously pass, but I worriedtoo much about my grades.
I actually got the highest GPAaward in engineering, but I feel
(42:11):
like I missed out on so much ofthe college experience because
all I did was study and I don'thave a very good memory and so
whenever I did study, I had toknow the material.
I couldn't just memorize it for24 hours and be fine, and I was
just constantly studying anddoing homework and doing stuff
(42:34):
for school, worried so muchabout my GPA.
No one else cared about my GPAand yes, I got this cool award
at the end of the day, but thataward isn't what's going to get
me jobs.
It was my internships.
I would say get an internship,hands-on learning, don't worry
so much about your grades, butdon't give in little minimal
(42:56):
effort and barely pass yourclasses, obviously.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Yeah, somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, somewhere in the middle.
Don't be like me, but don't be,c's get degrees.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Get at least a B plus incollege.
Get an internship four-yeardegree.
Is there anything else thatthey need if they want to pursue
this degree?
Would you say that it wasnecessary for you to have a
minor in computer science, or isthat just something that you?
Speaker 1 (43:23):
That was just a skill that I wanted to have
legitimately, just because I wasinterested in it.
I think I was the only, or I amthe only, person that has done
civil engineering and got aminor in computer science.
It was a very strange thing todo.
People would give me weirdbooks.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Are there other minors that if someone wanted to
get a minor?
They compliment the engineeringdegree.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Yes, there's actually a new electrical engineering
minor at A-State and a lot ofcivil engineers did that, just
because they work closelytogether.
You're going to be working withelectrical engineers, depending
on your field you go into, andthen also plant science.
I actually almost did thatbecause you can get a plant
science degree and then go intosome kind of agricultural
(44:07):
engineering, which is very goodfor this area.
So plant science is a good one.
And then a lot of people gotmath minors.
It was quite literally two moreclasses to get a minor, and so
people would just take a summerclass for two summers and get a
math minor so they could saythat they had it.
And then it's just that extramath course or those extra math
(44:31):
courses just to help you withproblem solving in your job.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
So this is like an off the wall question, but if
you weren't doing civilengineering, what is another
career field that you would wantto pursue?
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Probably the statistics.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
St Louis Cargings.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I took statistics.
I had to take two statisticsclasses for my major and I liked
both of them a lot, but Iprobably would have ended up
doing that and then getting amaster's in statistics and,
depending on how my husband feltabout it, worked for the St
Louis Cardinals, moved to StLouis.
That was my dream job my junioryear of college.
I would probably do somethingwith that.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
No, that's awesome.
It's awesome that you knew whatyou wanted to do from a
relatively early age.
That's just.
One of my goals is to giveclarity to some people that are
on the fence about what theywant to do.
Not sure if they'd beinterested or not just to hear
stories like yours and to beinspired to try something new.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
If anyone ever wants to reach out to me and ask
questions, I will, to the bestof my ability, answer them, but
I also work with a lot of peoplethat can help answer them too.
Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
We'll put your island , where you can get connected to
Shelby, in the show notes.
Is there anything else that youwant to add about your career
field, or you want the listenersto know before you let you go?
Speaker 1 (45:54):
I think that's it.
My career is very complex, butalso very simple at the same
time, if that makes any sense.
There's a lot of ins and outsto it, but I think that anyone,
as long as they're hard working,you don't have to be smart to
engineering.
A lot of people will hear thatI'm a civil engineer and they're
(46:16):
just like, wow, you're reallysmart.
And I'm like actually, I'm notthat smart, I just work my butt
off.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
I don't know somebody that enjoys math is pretty
smart to me.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
No, it's just the passion that I was given, but I
was definitely both.
My parents are hard working, soI got that from both of them.
But I knew I'm not the smartestperson that graduated in my
classroom a state last May.
I know that and I'm okay withthat.
But I was probably the hardestworker because I had to.
I had to.
(46:50):
I'm just not gifted.
I had to work my butt off and Idid.
They can do it if they workhard, definitely.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Well, shelby, I appreciate you taking the time
and thanks for having me hostingme in your home to do this
interview on short notice.
This has been another episodeof the Clever Angle podcast.
I will put all the links inbelow to Shelby's podcast and
where we can connect to with herabout your civil engineering
questions, and I appreciate youbeing on.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me, it was fun.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
Absolutely Until next time, peace.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of the Clever
Angle podcast.
Make sure you subscribewherever you get podcasts and we
will see you next week.
Welcome back to another episode of the clever
angle podcast.
I'm your host, tevin McGee, andtoday I have Shelby Opaugh.
She is a civil engineer here inJonesboro and she's gonna be
talking to us about her careerand I'm excited to hear about it
.
Shelby, thank you for beingwith us today.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You were telling me off air that you used to host a
podcast.
Yes, tell us a little bit aboutit.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So I started a podcast with my best friend,
caitlin, my junior year ofcollege, which is whenever
things start getting prettydifficult with engineering.
So I guess I picked like theworst time to start a podcast.
But for a couple of months wewould try a different coffee
every week, whether it be like anew way of brewing coffee or
like a new type of latte orwhatever.
(01:04):
We would try a new coffee andgive a little review, and then
we would have a topic for thatweek that we would talk about,
and episodes lasted anywherefrom 30 minutes to an hour.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Where'd you get that idea from?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We both love coffee and we both love to talk and we
both think that we're funny, andso we would always joke about
starting a podcast.
And then one day her boyfriendnow husband was like then do it,
let's start one, because heknows how to do all of the
setting up and editing and allof that stuff.
So he actually pushed us to dowhat we were joking about doing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I will definitely put the link to the podcast in the
show notes and I guess I'll bethe judge if you guys are funny
or not.
We'll just start with a fewicebreaker questions.
I've got a deck of cards herefor interviews.
The first one, I kind of justpicked three random ones out
here.
Who would play you in a movie?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
I would always I used to always say Emma Stone,
because red hair, but I've beentold a lot lately that I look
like Emily Osment.
Do you know who that is?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I'm not familiar with her work.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
She plays Lily in Hannah Montana.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yes, so I've had multiple people come up and tell
me that I look like her, whichI take as a compliment, and I've
even had family say it too.
So I'm like, oh, I guess shewould.
I guess she would play me ifshe looks the most like me and
she's a good actress.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Next question I have is who isyour favorite hero in fiction,
in fiction.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Hmm, man, in fiction is hard Probably.
I don't even know if this wouldcount as a hero, but I want to
say Katniss Everdeen.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Okay, does that count ?
No, katniss is definitely ahero.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Okay, yes, I loved the Hunger Games.
I still love Hunger Games.
Yeah, I love the Hunger Games.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Did you read the books or just watch the movies?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Books.
I've read the books multipletimes, but I have seen all the
movies and they were all good,but those were my jam growing up
.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I definitely think Catching Fire is my favorite.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yes, it's my favorite too.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I really enjoyed watching that for you is what is
your recurring nightmare?
Oh Like do you have any dreamsthat you have to?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
It's like scary, is that?
Okay, yeah, yeah, okay I so.
My mom is, like my best friend,one of my favorite people on
the planet top three and I will,every couple of weeks, have a
nightmare that she passes away.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yes, I know that's so morbid yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I know, but it's reoccurring.
It's the only one I everremember.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, I'm definitely one of those people that I don't
really remember my dreams a lot, but every now and then I'll
have something that's like supervivid.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I need to look into what really causes that, because
that's an interesting subjectfield.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Sleep studies need to interview a sleep scientist.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I don't know what they're called.
Anyone that's listening.
If you know a sleep scientistthat would want to come on the
show, I want to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
That'd be cool.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, so let's just dive into your career and just
your origin story a little bit.
Can you give a brief summaryabout who you are, where you're
from?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yes, my maiden name is Blankenship, so my name is
Shelby Blankenship, now Opoff.
I was born and raised inParagold, arkansas, just about
20 miles north of where we areright now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Did you go to Paragold or Tech?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Paragold Okay, yeah, my mom taught there.
So I went there K through 12and then I grew up with divorced
parents.
I lived manually with my momand then I would see my dad like
every other weekend and thensometimes on Tuesdays, and then
I came to A state for college soI didn't move very far.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
What do your parents do for work?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
My mom used to be a teacher.
She was a teacher for 16 yearsand then this is why she's my
hero.
If he would have saidnon-fictional, I would have said
my mom.
She went to get her masters ineducation and federal programs
while she was single with threegirls and working two jobs, and
(05:16):
so now she is actually used tobe the superintendent, the
assistant superintendent, atHarrisburg schools and Ashley is
the superintendent there.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's awesome.
Yeah, so you have two sisters.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yes, I have two sisters Do you have any brothers
or just?
I have One stepbrother and oneadopted brother.
So my dad he was a farmer for25 years and now he's a banker,
he does aglending and he adoptedmy little brother.
And then I also have astepbrother on my dad's side.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Do you have any memories from your childhood
that just stand out?
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I like always vividly remember my mom ordering pizza
and us sitting in the livingroom and eating brick oven pizza
specifically, and watchingdancing with the stars.
We would do that all the time.
I think my mom just loved it.
But my mom had a gift where shecan make anything fun.
(06:15):
She just makes anything andeverything fun, and so like we
didn't have a whole lot of moneygrowing up, but she always made
everything fun.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I love dancing with the stars and American Idol and
yes, we watched America's GotTalent.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
So Janne are currently watching the Voice
right now.
So, she loves to ugly, cry topeople's stories, and something
that we do.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
I did that on America's Got Talent.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
For sure.
So what are some of yourhobbies and things you like to
do outside of work?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I love to read.
I've got a book sitting righthere.
I read any chance that I get.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Do you usually read like fiction, nonfiction,
everything?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Everything I went.
I got into a kick where I likedAmerican classics and so I own
a lot of American classics.
But I've been reading a lot ofsci-fi too lately, but like that
room in there has about 400books in it.
Do you have any bookrecommendations.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I've recently got back into reading, so what type
of book do you like?
I like sci-fi and.
I like like self-help books andproductivity books and things
like that, but my favoritefiction series as a kid was by
James Patterson.
Yeah, it was the Maximum Ridebooks.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I love those books.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Did you ever read I don't even know if he wrote
these did you ever read the likethe Sint books that he I
thought it was him that wrote it?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I think it was James Patterson.
I've never read them.
Are they any good?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
They're so good, I have three of them in there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Okay, yeah, yeah, for sure, like, legitimately you
can borrow one if you like.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
They're about, like kids, time traveling, and I read
them in high school and there'sphenomenal so I do remember
that series and.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'll take you up on that, because I'm trying to get
like a a balance of differenttypes of books.
You know that I'm reading, so Ilike to listen to a lot of
stuff on Audible.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So I'm listening to stuff on Drive-In and we lend
out books like all the time, soyou're welcome to go in there
after we record and look throughand grab some.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, and definitely look through your personal
library for sure.
In your own words, can you givethe listeners a definition of
what is civil engineering?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah.
So I actually didn't even knowwhat it was until I started with
the major.
I just knew that I loved mathand that I loved building with
Legos.
But civil engineering, in anutshell, is the design and like
the maintenance andconstruction of anything in an
(08:41):
infrastructure that isstationary, which is like hard
to explain.
So a civil engineer designedthe structure of the building
that we're in right now and acivil engineer designed the
foundation of this building sothat this building doesn't sink
into the ground because there'sa bunch of clay in Arkansas.
That's why we're so good withfarming, because we have the
(09:02):
clay that's perfect for ricefarming.
Horrible for infrastructuredesign, because clay sinks.
Civil engineer designed thefoundation of it.
A civil engineer designed allof the utilities, like the sewer
, the water, the storm drainageof everything in Jonesboro and
the roadways.
There's a lot of differentthings that you can go into a
(09:23):
civil engineering, so you can doinfrastructure design, which is
what I do.
You can do environmentalengineering, transportation
engineering, structuralengineering, which I'm wanting
to get my masters in becauseit's really cool, but there's
like a huge like expanse ofdifferent jobs that you can get
with it.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
So when you said stationary, what would be an
example of something that's notstationary?
Okay, so who would design carsand things like that?
A mechanical engineer.
Mechanical engineer.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And then like conveyor belts high troll, they
do.
Conveyors and mechanicalengineers design those, yeah, so
anything that's moving.
Basically I always joke aboutthat that like mechanical
engineers design things that aresupposed to move and civil
engineers design things that arenot supposed to move.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Okay, okay, that's a good way to come with that.
I've always wondered that.
So what would you, what wouldit like an electrical engineer
fall in?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
They design iPhones actually so an electrical
engineer designed an iPhone.
They do a lot of stuff.
It's similar to mechanical.
Their majors were just.
Their classes were very similar.
They do a lot.
They have a lot of computerscience in theirs, so there's a
lot of coding involved withelectrical engineering.
A lot of times whenever peoplethink electrical engineering
they think electrician but it'smore of like the design aspect
(10:41):
of it, so they can like designelectrical systems for a
building.
I actually had an electricalengineering major on my senior
design team last year and oursenior design project was to
design a new building for thecomputer science and engineering
college at A-State and so Idesigned the superstructure of
it, like all of the foundationand all of the columns and the
(11:03):
reinforcement in them andeverything, and then he designed
the electrical layout of howeverything would work and get
put back into the system.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So when you say electrical, like design and
things like that, so are we justtalking about, like, how the
lights are going to be in thebuildings, or because an iPhone
is a lot different than like theinfrastructure of a layout of a
building?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
or something.
Yes, in the same way that, like, designing of the foundation of
this building is completelydifferent from designing a sewer
system, those two engineerscivil engineers did both of
those things, and an electricalengineer can design an iPhone or
design an electrical layout ofa building.
I don't know a ton about itbecause I only ever took
circuits in college, but I doknow there are a whole bunch of
(11:50):
codes that they have to meet andthere's a whole lot of ins and
outs with like electricity.
You can't have too much, youcan't have too little.
There's a certain level youhave to meet to be able to
supply everything, and yeah,that's.
That's pretty much as far as myknowledge goes.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
With it, though, that's fascinating me and my
brother talk about things likethat all the time about, like
how things work and how awesomeit is to be able to have an
iPhone that can do all thethings that it can do.
So you mentioned liking math.
Can you tell us a little bitabout what was your school and
like high school, junior high,or did you always excel in math
and did you always see yourselfgoing into a career like that?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I was definitely an overachiever growing up, which
it wasn't actually instilled inme by my parents.
My parents were never like youhave to make good grades or blah
I was.
I always just put that pressureon myself like I wanted to
excel and do well.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What do you think that came came from I?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
have no clue.
I have no clue.
I think.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Just in you.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, it's just the determination in me.
Yeah, it wasn't even like acomparison thing to other people
, it was just like I loved thelike how I felt whenever I had
done well on something.
But it was never pressured ontome like by either of my parents
growing up at all.
But I started loving mathactually in middle school.
I could tell you the exactteacher that it was.
(13:12):
I'll probably send him the linkto this podcast.
His name's Jerry Dixon.
He was my sixth grade mathteacher and I.
That was when we first startedlearning a lot of algebra.
So that's whenever thevariables were introduced,
whenever you start adding theletters, and I just loved it.
I loved the problem solving.
I loved the way that my brainhad to think whenever I was
(13:34):
solving all of these problemsand the way that he taught was
phenomenal and made it more,made it really fun.
And from then on out, myfavorite subject was math and I
in high school I took two extramath than I needed to graduate
because I loved it so much.
So it was just yeah, that wasmy favorite.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, that's definitely interesting.
I think there would be a lot ofpeople that would disagree with
you.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Math being their favorite.
But that's cool that you foundsomething in sixth grade that
you really latched onto.
You're in high school now.
You're getting ready tograduate.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
What was your plan looking like going into college?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I went all over the place.
I actually, for a second,thought about majoring in
marketing just because I reallywanted to work for the St Louis
Cardinals.
That was why I love baseball.
I love watching the Cardinals.
I used to watch them with mydad growing up.
I still keep up with them andso I started out wanting to do
marketing.
And then I started looking into, okay, what are ways that I can
(14:37):
use my gifts and my passion formath and still work for them.
And so then I was gonna dostatistics.
I was gonna get my masters instatistics and be a statistician
for the Cardinals, so basically, do all of the math and the
logarithm still come up withtheir stats, which sounds so
cool to me still, and then Iactually call it.
(14:59):
You know how there are justlike singular moments in your
life that like completely shiftthe trajectory of how your
life's gonna go.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah.
So this single moment my dadhad a friend over at his house.
His name's Casey, I think.
He went to high school with mymom.
He's a chemical engineer.
He was over and I was a juniorin high school he was like
Shelby, what are you gonna do,as most people ask you?
You're a junior and senior yearof high school and I was like I
(15:29):
think I'm gonna be astatistician for the Cardinals.
And he was an engineer.
And so he looked at me.
He was like you should lookinto engineering.
I think that you would enjoy it.
And that was all he said.
And that one moment I was like,okay, I'll look into
engineering.
It was pretty Vangellan aboutit and I spent the next like
week or so researching whatengineering was and then decided
(15:49):
that I was gonna do it likewithin a couple of days.
Like that one sentence thatsomeone said to me like shifted
my whole life.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's interesting.
So how did you come up with?
Because it seems like all ofthe engineering's have to do
with math.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
To some degree.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
How did you with civil engineering?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I actually started out mechanical.
My first semester I wasmechanical engineering and I
interned at high troll, whichwas a great place to work.
I loved it.
Mechanical isn't just the waythat my brain worked, but that's
one of the really cool thingsabout engineering.
Like within civil engineering,you have different types of
people whose brains workdifferently and they go into
different fields, but it's thesame way in the umbrella of
(16:29):
engineering.
My brain just works differentlythan a mechanical engineer's,
does they?
The classes that they took thatwe would have to take.
I just couldn't ever wrap mymind around.
My brain just didn't work thatway, and that's okay.
But they would take classesthat were the foundation of
civil engineering and they justcouldn't wrap their mind around
(16:50):
it, and those classes were myfavorite, and so a lot of their
classes were movement, so likemovement of fluids, movement of
machines, movement of materialsand like all of the math and
physics behind all of that, andthen ours, the basis of civil
engineering, is one class.
You could go into a civilengineering career and use this
(17:12):
one class easily.
It's called statics, which isstationary.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And it's basically we would always laugh about how
you can sum up statics in oneequation, and it's the sum of
the forces equals zero.
You want all of your forces toequal zero so that this isn't
moving.
This object is not moving andyou're having to do all of the
math and physics at differentangles and everything to
determine where this object isgoing.
(17:40):
And that was my favorite classI ever took all of college.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So are there classes that, no matter which
engineering path that you take,that you have to take?
Yes, yeah, what are thoseclasses?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Static is one of them .
We all had to take dynamics,which is a lot like statics and
it was a very similar to physicsA lot of vectors, which is
basically like an equation thatdescribes an object and movement
.
So if I throw a baseball andyou know how tall I am and you
(18:14):
know how much force I put intothrowing that baseball and what
angle I threw it at, you candetermine how high it's going to
go and how far it's going to goand how much the force is going
to be on its ground.
That's the stuff that we woulddo.
And then, as a civil engineer,we got to choose between
thermodynamics and electricalcircuits, which is a mechanical
and an electrical class, and Ichose electric circuits because
(18:37):
it sounded cool and I wanted todo it and I have a computer
science minor, so I thought itwould help a little bit with it.
That's fascinating.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So with that minor do you know how to code in?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
it.
Yes, I, yes.
I think the hardest class Itook was a coding class in
college.
It was called object orientedprogramming and Is that like
Python?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
What kind of.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
We did C++.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
C++.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, which is very intricate is the best word I can
come up with but we were likewe were basically just given a
problem and I had to write acode that would solve it but
also follow all of the sentencestructure of it.
So basically, whenever you'recoding, you're creating the
bridge language between a humanand the computer, and it was
(19:24):
just a completely different wayof thinking.
And the way of thinking andcoding I felt helped me a lot
with my engineering stuff too,because of just the problem
solving aspect of it.
You can't like Google theEnglish.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, we talked a little bit earlier before we
started about different podcaststhat we listened to and there
was a year or two where I wentdown like a rabbit hole on how
to learn how to code.
And there was this podcast.
It was called Learn to Codewith Me.
So it would be.
The host would bring ondifferent people that would have
(19:57):
transitioned from like ateacher or some other degree and
now they've learned how to codeand taken the course of it and
taken jobs in the tech space.
That's cool that you got to dosome of that in your minor,
because computers and thingslike that have always fascinated
me.
Do you have to use any of thatin your job, like any coding or
anything?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Not really.
Right now we have an ITdepartment that does all of that
stuff, but I also I tookclasses like operating systems
and things like that, and so byfar not an expert solving OS
problems.
Don't get me wrong, but I notin my job now, but in my
previous job we had a problemcome up where we were trying to
(20:38):
get a specific type of file towork with our program and I was
like I just know that there's away that we can switch this file
type in the operating system.
I just don't remember how to doit and it took me a little bit
of researching and then itclicked in my brain.
I was like, yes, okay, Iremember now and I was able to
show my boss how to switch thisfile type over using the
(20:59):
operating system, like using the, the MR I don't even remember
what it's called using theinterface that you code in to
switch over the file type.
No, that's it.
It hadn't done it in threeyears.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You're in your undergrad degree and were you
required to do an internship?
I know you said you did aninternship with.
Did you say hydro?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yes, I interned with them, for I was with them from
spring of 2019 when I graduatedhigh school.
So I started with them theFriday after I graduated high
school and then I was with themuntil December of 2020.
And then I actually moved tosome architects.
So I interned at anarchitecture firm here in town
(21:48):
for two years.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And this wasn't through ASU?
No, they didn't requireanything.
Which is terrifying yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I wish they would.
Most people ended up gettinginternships, but a lot of people
had jobs and couldn't becausethey had their paying for their
own school.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
So how did you find these internships, these
opportunities?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I troll.
I actually job shattered anengineer my senior year and that
was how I Like got in therebecause my school did a job
shadowing thing with seniors andthen In with the architects.
I knew that I wanted to dosomething with building
infrastructure, whether it bestructural or what I'm doing now
with infrastructure design.
I knew I wanted to do that andthere were no civil engineering
(22:29):
internships open and Architectswork a lot very closely with
civil engineers because of thesite design aspect of it, and I
literally just called thisarchitecture firm and asked if
they wanted to hire an internand they were like, yeah, come
in tomorrow for an interview.
So I went in for an interviewand I worked there for two years
.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So they don't require you to have an internship.
Would this be something thatrecommend to somebody that wants
to get into?
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I know that my experience in internships is
what got me the job that I haveright now, so the job that you
have right now, is this yourfirst job like officially.
I actually interned at adifferent job for my last
semester of college, just springof my senior year.
It was literally the only thingavailable and it was in
(23:21):
transportation, which is greatand we need it.
It's just I'm not interested init.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
So with transportation, would that be
mechanical engineering, or isthat be still be civil?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
It's still be civil, which is a very common
misconception, because withtransportation engineering,
you're not designing the cars ordesigning the roadways.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Oh, okay, that's what you mean by that.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, yeah, we did pavement design.
So there's got to be like aspecific like.
Every type of pavement isdifferent, it's based on the
vehicle loading and theenvironment and what materials
are available and all of thisother stuff, and there's a lot
to do with like flood elevations.
So flood elevation is veryimportant in my career too.
We're in a flood zone right nowbecause of you just think of
(24:01):
all of the rivers that arearound us.
So there are different areasthat are discernment as flood
zone areas, which means they arelikely.
They have a 1% chance offlooding within the next 100
years, which doesn't seem likemuch, but it's pretty far up
there in like the grand scheme.
And so we have to design all ofour roadways and all of our
(24:23):
buildings based off of thisflood elevation, and so that's
gets into a lot of liketransportation engineering as
well.
And then a lot of roadwaydesign is also whenever you're
going around a curve and it likesuper elevates to the side, we
have to determine the degree ofthat super elevation so that the
car doesn't flip over, based onthe speed and the weight of the
car and all of that stuff, andthere are different codes that
(24:47):
you have to meet with how big ofa turn you can pull off with a
certain speed that the car isgoing.
So it's based on this postedspeed.
And then there's a lot oftraffic engineering involved,
where you're studying crashesand the reasons for crashes,
which gets into like humanbehaviors, which was difficult.
So it's very interesting though.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
So take me through the interview process of the job
that you're currently at rightnow.
What was that like and whatdoes the interview look like for
a civil engineering job?
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, this was, I guess, my first experience, so I
get it could be completelydifferent for other people.
But I actually found the job onLinkedIn because I've got a
LinkedIn account and my boss atmy other job knew that I didn't
want to do transportationengineering long term, like I
had told him that whenever I gotthe internship, so he was aware
(25:42):
of that.
But I basically read about thiscompany and did a quick like
follow them on LinkedIn and thenone of their HR people reached
out to me and said hey, I seeyou're open to work and that
you're in Jonesboro.
We actually just started a newlocation in Jonesboro and we're
(26:04):
hiring a civil engineer, whichstands for engineer intern,
which is technically what I am.
So is a license.
So I had to take a license examlast year that I passed and I
got my EI license and then Iwork in my field for at least
three years it can be more andthen I take my PE exam, which is
(26:25):
my professional engineeringlicense, and then my name is
what gets stamped on projects.
That'll be another three years.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Is it like that, that kind of licensing procedure for
all engineers?
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yes, and actually for structural you have to take an
extra one.
So you have your FE, which isthe one I've passed, and then
you have your PE, and then youhave your SE, your structural
engineering license, and so,because their work is so
important, like it can't fail Ifa roadway fails, it's very
different from a buildingcollapsing they have to take an
(26:57):
extra license exam.
I guess I just like to makethings harder myself because
that's what I want to do.
But yeah, this lady in HR waslike we're actually hiring a
civil engineer, ei, can I set upan interview with you?
And I said yes.
So we talked on the phone forabout an hour and then she
scheduled me an interview withthe now boss at Craft Toll,
(27:18):
which is where I work, and wehad about an hour and a half
interview and then I heard fromthem, probably two or three days
later after that interview, andthey sent me the offer letter
with everything on it and wantedto offer me the job.
It was a pretty quick process,not very stressful.
I think that they interviewedthree other people.
(27:40):
That's what my boss told me.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Okay, so you accept the offer.
You're super excited about that.
What is your first day on thejob?
Look like.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So I walk in and I have my own office, which is I'm
flabbergasted by having my ownoffice, and they sent me in my
office, show me how to log intomy computer, like what my
username is, all of this stuff.
And then on the very first daythey do a training orientation
(28:11):
and they have a trainingorientation every two weeks, so
they try to have new hires startevery two weeks, clockwork and
it's a pretty big company.
We've got over 300 employeesand we're hiring people all the
time.
John'sboro is actually thesmallest location when we have
nine people there, but the CEOactually is in this training and
(28:33):
is talking to all of us andhe's talking to all of us like
where his equal, not like hissubordinate, which I really
appreciated about him.
He just talked to us all likewe were old friends and they
just walk through the process ofour benefits and what the
training process is gonna looklike and yeah, so my first day
(28:56):
was mainly spent doing this liketraining session.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
So was this your first job, or in high school, or
anything?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, I worked through high school.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, I worked through high school.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I worked at a gas station for about six months.
It was horrible.
I was 16 and I would work bymyself from four to 11 on school
nights.
It was horrible.
And then I worked as a salesassociate at a place called
Factory Connection in Perigold.
Love it Still.
Love all the people there.
I just left because I went tocollege, but I was there for
(29:29):
three years.
I loved it there.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
So, Okay, you got set up and what have you been
working on at this job since?
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Got in the best way possible.
They basically threw me in thedeep end and wanted me to learn
how to swim, which is I honestlyappreciated, that I didn't feel
micromanaged or anything andthat they trusted me to ask the
right questions when I needed toask them.
So the way that my boss trainsis by giving me a project and
(30:01):
giving me the information I needand allowing me to ask the
questions that I need to solvethe problem, which I really
appreciate.
And right now, on a day to day,I'm semi-managing a lot of my
own projects.
I'll go to my boss for a lot ofthings, but as far as just the
day to day of a project, I'mdoing the.
(30:21):
I mainly do site design, whichincludes grading and drainage,
so making sure water flow iswhere it's supposed to go
without any flooding happeningor ponding, which can cause
erosion and is a whole issue.
And then I do sewer design andwater design and erosion control
, and a lot of that deals withflood elevations, like I talked
(30:41):
about earlier, and I'm likeemailing clients, emailing fire
marshals, emailing R dot,emailing the city of Jonesboro,
talking to city water light,because we have a whole bunch of
codes that we have to meet, andso I'm just trying to meet all
these codes with our projects.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I was just gonna ask you if that relationship with
city, water and light, if youhad one with them.
My sister works there so Ididn't know that that was like a
some kind of what capacity youwork at the city.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I talked to them for just about every project that we
have in Jonesboro, which ismost of my projects, really.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yes, I'll have to ask her, but my sister actually
works in the engineeringdepartment.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Oh really, yeah, I see water and light.
She probably assumed my name,probably.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So what projects are you working on right now?
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Man, there's so many.
We actually just wrapped up aproject in Pocahontas at Pico
Foods, designed the sitedrainage utilities, all of that
for a new expansion calledcontrol atmosphere stunning at
Pico Foods because they havechickens, so it's a more humane
way to like basically kill thechickens.
(31:50):
And now McDonald's and a lot ofplaces are requiring that this
controlled stunning be used onthe chickens because it's the
most humane way, and so we hadto design.
We were given the floor plan ofthe expansion and we just
designed all of the civilaspects of it.
And then I'm working on quite afew smaller projects.
(32:12):
So I have a bunch of very smallsize projects, all less than
five acres.
So I've got a couple ofapartment complexes that I'm
designing the drainage and I'vegot a rezoning where we're
trying to rezone a couple ofthings which gets into real
estate, which is not what Iwould expect to be doing.
But if a plot of land is acommercial three zone and we
(32:38):
wanna bring it to a residentialone zone, there's a whole
process you have to go throughwith the city to get that
approved and the council has tovote on it.
So I've got a ton of just likesmaller projects so that I can
learn quicker, so that it'sdoesn't take as long, basically,
to do all of the design.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
So would you say that there was a big shock going
from learning about this stuffto actually applying it.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yes, I have learned more in the last three months
than I did in school, which iswhat every engineer says, and I
love A-State.
That is not a dis on A-State.
I got a very good education atA-State and I would go back and
redo it again at A-State if Iwas given the choice.
But you just learn morewhenever you're in the field,
and civil engineering schooldoesn't even get into a whole
(33:28):
lot of infrastructure design.
It mainly focuses on structuraland environmental and water.
That's the three main thingsthat we had classes in.
And transportation we had sometransportation, but
infrastructure design and likesite stuff like I'm doing wasn't
really taught, because it's sohands on and every project is so
(33:49):
different, because you've gotso many different people
involved and every site looksdifferent, and so I've
definitely learned so much inthe last three months.
Like every week it feels likeI'm drinking out of a fire hose.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, yeah, just information overload.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yes, but I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
So how long have you been doing this position?
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I've been there since September 5th.
I started the day after LaborDay, so I see you remember.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Okay, okay.
So what are some skills outsideof school that you think are
essential for being a good civilengineer?
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Definitely people skills which you wouldn't expect
.
So I have to talk to a lot ofclients.
I have to, like professionalism, I have to be able to
communicate with my clients andwith the city and with a bunch
of important people that haveway more knowledge than I do.
Just like effectivecommunication is really
important.
And also effectivecommunication in the sense of
(34:49):
answering your emails and beinggood at communicating a problem
or a question so that it's clearto the person that you're
talking to, so that they cananswer it appropriately for you.
And also humbleness, like youhave to humble yourself whenever
you're coming into a completelydifferent career and atmosphere
and we have a student intern,so I'm not technically at the
(35:10):
bottom of the totem pole, butbesides the student intern, I am
, and so just being humble andknowing that you don't know
everything and allowing peopleto teach you is important.
I don't think you can learneverything that you need to
learn if you go into it with anattitude of thinking everything
that's a big one.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Would you consider yourself introverted or
extroverted?
Does this change like insideand outside of work?
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Definitely extroverted.
I would not say it changes.
I actually got married inOctober and I was gone for about
a week on my honeymoon and Igot back and everybody in the
office was like it was so quietwithout me because I just talk
all the time.
So definitely extrovert.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, no, that's cool .
Do you think that to besuccessful in engineering, that
is something that, if you're anintrovert, that you need to
develop some of thoseextroverted skills because you
said people skills is veryimportant effective
communication.
Do you think that's somethingthat you would have to do if?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I don't think you necessarily would have to be
an extrovert which I'm anextrovert to an extreme, Like
I'm at 100% there's.
No, I'm not in the middle byany means, but I definitely
graduated with some introvertedpeople that are gonna be really
good engineers and they'reeffective communicators, but
they only communicate when theyhave to, which is absolutely
(36:32):
fine.
So effective communication isdefinitely, I wouldn't say, a
requirement, but it's a skillthat should be learned if you're
gonna do your job well and youwant to excel at your job and
maybe one day get a raise ormove up or whatever.
But being an extrovert isn't.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Do you have any tips for kind of developing that
skill?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I mean talking to people is one Getting advice
from someone wiser than you notnecessarily older, but wiser.
We learned a lot ofprofessionalism in school, but a
lot of it is just by doing.
I learned by emailing peopleand making mistakes.
I actually the other day I wasnot paying attention to what I
(37:18):
was doing and I accidentallysent the wrong email to the
wrong person and I had torespond and immediately
apologize to them and that wasmy fault.
I wasn't paying attention towhat I was doing.
But I learned from my mistakeand I'm gonna double check where
I'm sending an email from nowon, just like learning from your
mistakes.
And yeah, professionalism is aweird thing because I feel like
(37:42):
I'm still so young so I wouldn'tbe able to teach
professionalism to someone.
But from what I've learned,it's just been by doing and
watching other people that arewiser than me.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Did you ever take like oral calm in school?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yes, I do get in high school wait and to college and
college yes.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
How was that experience for you?
Because it's one of thosethings that I feel like I have
to exert so much energy.
When I'm overly extroverted, inthe right situations, it comes
natural for me.
But given a speech or something, or something that.
I could do it, but I alwaysjust felt so drained afterwards.
How was your experience doingOrocom?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
I'm actually the exact same way.
I love talking one-on-one likethis, what we're doing right now
.
I could do this for another sixhours and be fine, but if I get
put up on a stage in front ofpeople I'm going to pass out.
I it's just something about it.
I struggled with Orocom reallybad and I ended up doing fine in
both of them, but a lot of itwas the memorization aspect.
(38:44):
So my speeches were always oversomething I just had to
memorize.
It was never over something Iwas really passionate about.
But with my job, if I know whatI'm talking about and I'm able
to go to someone and tell themabout what I'm doing and ask a
question, my mind is so focusedon what I'm talking about that
I'm not even paying attention tothe people looking at me.
And Orocom was not like that.
(39:06):
It was very different.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yeah, it's just I don't know.
There's just something veryunnerving about just a whole
bunch of eyes on you and they'relistening and even if they're
like, yeah, gosh, it's tough.
And it's one thing that I likeabout podcasting is okay.
I can talk to somebodyone-on-one and then I can just
put it out until the ether andy'all can listen to it but it's
(39:28):
not me there actively gettingthat feedback or looks or things
like that.
Definitely excel in the smallergroup settings, for sure.
So, that's interesting.
Where do you see yourselfcareer-wise in five years?
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Five years man.
I really enjoy my company, so Iwould like to still be with
them.
I really like them a lot, justtheir attitude about things and
the way they treat theiremployees.
It's been a really good placeto work and everyone else I work
with says the same thing andthere are a lot of opportunities
internally to move up and I'mwanting to do structural
(40:07):
long-term, which, if thatdoesn't work out, I do enjoy
what I'm doing right now and Ican always do both.
I know a ton of engineers thathave a geotechnical license and
a transportation license, so itwouldn't be weird for me to get
a structural license and aninfrastructure license.
But I would like to be doingsome kind of structural work,
hopefully within this company,but thankfully it's all over the
(40:29):
state and so we couldrelatively move anywhere and I
can either work in a differentoffice or work remotely.
I would be okay with any ofthose.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
That's interesting that you said you could do civil
engineering remotely.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Is there something that you'd be interested in, or
do you like the aspect of beingaround people in the office?
Speaker 1 (40:50):
I do love the aspect of being around people.
I was actually given the optionof working remotely whenever I
started, and I didn't want to,but it's an option for if I go
on a trip or something, I canbring my laptop with me and our
laptops plug into our computermonitors and so everything is
projected onto our two computermonitors.
But I can just unplug myginormous gaming laptop and take
(41:15):
it with me and do everything Ineed to do on it and just call
my boss if I have a question orsomething.
But all of the files andeverything that I need is within
that computer, that operatingsystem.
It's very nice.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
So what is some advice thatyou'd give to somebody that's
wanting to get into the field Ifyou had to give them a roadmap
on if you want to become a civilengineer.
This is what you need to startdoing today to get there.
What's the roadmap to becominga civil engineer, in your
opinion?
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Definitely get an internship.
The people that had internshipshad better got the jobs.
The people that had theinternships got the jobs.
I guess there's no way tosugarcoat that.
And don't worry about yourgrades.
Obviously pass, but I worriedtoo much about my grades.
I actually got the highest GPAaward in engineering, but I feel
(42:11):
like I missed out on so much ofthe college experience because
all I did was study and I don'thave a very good memory and so
whenever I did study, I had toknow the material.
I couldn't just memorize it for24 hours and be fine, and I was
just constantly studying anddoing homework and doing stuff
(42:34):
for school, worried so muchabout my GPA.
No one else cared about my GPAand yes, I got this cool award
at the end of the day, but thataward isn't what's going to get
me jobs.
It was my internships.
I would say get an internship,hands-on learning, don't worry
so much about your grades, butdon't give in little minimal
(42:56):
effort and barely pass yourclasses, obviously.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Yeah, somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, somewhere in the middle.
Don't be like me, but don't be,c's get degrees.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Get at least a B plus incollege.
Get an internship four-yeardegree.
Is there anything else thatthey need if they want to pursue
this degree?
Would you say that it wasnecessary for you to have a
minor in computer science, or isthat just something that you?
Speaker 1 (43:23):
That was just a skill that I wanted to have
legitimately, just because I wasinterested in it.
I think I was the only, or I amthe only, person that has done
civil engineering and got aminor in computer science.
It was a very strange thing todo.
People would give me weirdbooks.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Are there other minors that if someone wanted to
get a minor?
They compliment the engineeringdegree.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Yes, there's actually a new electrical engineering
minor at A-State and a lot ofcivil engineers did that, just
because they work closelytogether.
You're going to be working withelectrical engineers, depending
on your field you go into, andthen also plant science.
I actually almost did thatbecause you can get a plant
science degree and then go intosome kind of agricultural
(44:07):
engineering, which is very goodfor this area.
So plant science is a good one.
And then a lot of people gotmath minors.
It was quite literally two moreclasses to get a minor, and so
people would just take a summerclass for two summers and get a
math minor so they could saythat they had it.
And then it's just that extramath course or those extra math
(44:31):
courses just to help you withproblem solving in your job.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
So this is like an off the wall question, but if
you weren't doing civilengineering, what is another
career field that you would wantto pursue?
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Probably the statistics.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
St Louis Cargings.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I took statistics.
I had to take two statisticsclasses for my major and I liked
both of them a lot, but Iprobably would have ended up
doing that and then getting amaster's in statistics and,
depending on how my husband feltabout it, worked for the St
Louis Cardinals, moved to StLouis.
That was my dream job my junioryear of college.
I would probably do somethingwith that.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
No, that's awesome.
It's awesome that you knew whatyou wanted to do from a
relatively early age.
That's just.
One of my goals is to giveclarity to some people that are
on the fence about what theywant to do.
Not sure if they'd beinterested or not just to hear
stories like yours and to beinspired to try something new.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
If anyone ever wants to reach out to me and ask
questions, I will, to the bestof my ability, answer them, but
I also work with a lot of peoplethat can help answer them too.
Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
We'll put your island , where you can get connected to
Shelby, in the show notes.
Is there anything else that youwant to add about your career
field, or you want the listenersto know before you let you go?
Speaker 1 (45:54):
I think that's it.
My career is very complex, butalso very simple at the same
time, if that makes any sense.
There's a lot of ins and outsto it, but I think that anyone,
as long as they're hard working,you don't have to be smart to
engineering.
A lot of people will hear thatI'm a civil engineer and they're
(46:16):
just like, wow, you're reallysmart.
And I'm like actually, I'm notthat smart, I just work my butt
off.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
I don't know somebody that enjoys math is pretty
smart to me.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
No, it's just the passion that I was given, but I
was definitely both.
My parents are hard working, soI got that from both of them.
But I knew I'm not the smartestperson that graduated in my
classroom a state last May.
I know that and I'm okay withthat.
But I was probably the hardestworker because I had to.
I had to.
(46:50):
I'm just not gifted.
I had to work my butt off and Idid.
They can do it if they workhard, definitely.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Well, shelby, I appreciate you taking the time
and thanks for having me hostingme in your home to do this
interview on short notice.
This has been another episodeof the Clever Angle podcast.
I will put all the links inbelow to Shelby's podcast and
where we can connect to with herabout your civil engineering
questions, and I appreciate youbeing on.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Yeah, thanks for having me, it was fun.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
Absolutely Until next time, peace.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of the Clever
Angle podcast.
Make sure you subscribewherever you get podcasts and we
will see you next week.
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