Moral of the story: Don’t be intimidated by the big things.
If you had told me 6 months ago I would land an internship that would completely alter who I am and who I want to be as an aspiring female engineer, I would probably burst into tears. A quick introduction: My name is Kyla Davis and I am currently studying electrical engineering at Northern Illinois University. I won a great opportunity to spend my summer as an engineering intern at Ardmore Roderick, a civil-based engineering company located in Chicago, IL.
I was assigned to The Obama Presidential Center with Harrison Staley, a Project Executive who works with the Owner’s Rep for the project. My first day, I was very intimidated – seeing the 225 ft high building made of concrete as soon as I got off my train was breathtaking.
I spent my first week walking the site, attending meetings, and learning how construction and architecture integrate with each other. My head was spinning! There were so many avenues I could explore for these next 2 months; I had no idea where to start. This is where the imposter syndrome kicked in. As I sat at my desk during lunch, thoughts raced through my mind: “Was I not being honest in my interview?”, “Does the fact that I don’t know where to start mean that I’m not worthy enough to intern here?”, “I have to do my best, but I don’t think I have the capacity to handle all of this.” I wondered what impact the last intern had made and hoped that I could do just as well – or even better. To top it off, I am an introvert! I was scared to ask questions, speak up, or communicate in any way.
Everything seemed like it would topple on me eventually, because I could not see myself the way I wanted others to. But then it clicked: I’m not here to prove to other people that I am good at doing things that I think THEY would want me to be good at; I’m here to prove to myself that I am capable of doing things I CAN be (and want to be) good at. Once I realized this, my experience at The Obama Presidential Center completely transformed.
Repeatedly I think about the funny, but true phrase: “I identify as a sponge. I am here to soak up any and everything I can.” I began asking more questions, walking around freely on site to observe the progress of the tower, and networking. Networking was the most important thing I needed to do while I was at OPC. I wanted to connect with someone with an electrical engineering background to help clarify my career focus.
That’s when I met Chuck Wick and Kari Nystrom. This is a special shout-out because, as you can see, I am an intern from a different company. I worked under an amazing team at Ardmore Roderick (shout out Harrison Staley, Joelise Jones, and Donna Pilot). From beginning to end, they ensured that I always had something to learn. It was because of them, I was able to meet Chuck Wick, on Altieri’s field administration team, and shadow him every two weeks or so when he visited the site. I truly anticipated the next time he came to the site, as I learned so much in just one hour of walking around with him. My many questions about how the power is being supplied to the building led him to mentioning Kari Nystrom, an architectural engineer who designed the electrical systems for the entire OPC. I didn’t waste any time finding her email and reaching out to ask a few questions about her career and her role for the OPC project. She was more than willing to answer any question – whether I had asked it or not. Seeing her passion for architectural engineering inspired me to start exploring more in depth about electrical design. Meeting Chuck and Kari from Altieri gave me more confidence in becoming a future engineer who loves what they do for a living.
If I never used my thoughts of fear as motivation, I would have never gotten the chance to write this post, make great connections with other people at The Obama Presidential Center, or discover what I will do after graduation.
In addition to overcoming imposter syndrome, I have had other amazing experiences at the site! I witnessed The Obama Presidential Center take shape, matching the architectural drawings and conceptual photos I studied every day. I even attended the topping off event where I had the honor of meeting and shaking hands with Barack Obama!
The best part of The Obama Presidential Center, beyond the astonishing project itself, was the amazing people involved in building it! Even now, being back in the full swing of university and classes, I have the motivation to push through. My experience at OPC taught me to not be intimidated by ‘big’ challenges and that building connections with people matter.