Internship

    It was 8:00 am. During my entire summer I could not remember being up this early- let along dressed. So there I was dressed sharply, wearing my ironed button up with a matching tie, long black slacks, and polished leather shoes. Holding a pen in one hand and folder in another. It was just the beginning of an interesting two week period.
    When I had first sighed up for a summer internship, my junior year, I didn’t expect to hear back. Was I glad I was wrong when I heard back. I was going to take part in a Civil Engineering oriented internship at Charlotte Douglas International airport.1 The 25th largest airport in the United States. For two weeks I was going to be able to work along side Civil Engineers. There I was going to determine if Civil Engineers was the career path I wanted to truly follow. This opportunity just didn’t provide me the insight of what Civil Engineers do, it help me determine that it was what I wanted to do.
    There I was again on Tuesday. Waiting in the main lobby of their new office building. Dressed as sharply as the day before, only two differences: I was wearing much sharper tie and my right, primary, arm was in a sling. The previous day I had met Kelly, construction manager; Rachel, civil engineer; John, project manager. They were going to be the ones watching over me for the upcoming two weeks and showing me the ropes. That first day I had gotten introduced to everyone in the office, explored the office, set in on a couple meetings, and got informed on what the heck I was going to be doing for my internship. I left “work” at 3 pm and shortly afterwards I was playing soccer with a couple friends at the park in 75 degree weather with Carolina blue skies and not a single cloud in sight. For that day I was stuck being goalie. All it took was a well placed kick and an amazing one handed save to send me to the emergency room with a broken wrist. The people in the office sure did a good laugh out of that one the next day.
    Over the next two weeks I was able experience a day in the life of a civil engineer. Charlotte Douglas was going through a complete facelift. Its main terminal was being renovated, parking garages where being built, 2 new longer runways were being contracted, while all around bridges and roads where being built. The airport had every concentration of Civil Engineer on hand and I got to work along side a different one every day.
    I had the opportunity to work along side geotechnical, materials, and water resource engineers. From watching them work in the office to out in the field around the airport. There were two fields that I found most appealing, which were structural and environmental engineers. Structural engineers work with the structures of buildings. They run calculations on the tension, compression, and stress that building components experience. To establish a weight and safety standard for the building. An old saying goes, “Whats the difference between a structural and software engineer? When you walk into a building you don’t worry about it crumble and crashing on you, while you’re lucky if you can check your email on a computer.” The reason this appealed to me so much is that I have a desire to build and construct structures. This would also explain my love for LEGOS. Structural engineers work the majority in the office while occasionally going on site visits. I would like a good mix of both, being able to work comfortably in an office or out on the field. Environmental engineering would allow be to do this. Environmental engineers work to make sure the construction process is safe for the environment and that the site is sustainable. I had such a great time working along side these two specialties. They really sparked an interest in me. The internship help me understand what Civil Engineers do better and confirmed that is was what I wanted to do with my life.

1. "US Airways Defying US Trends with Healthy Growth at Its Main Charlotte Hub | Anna.aero." Airline, Airport and Aviation Route News & Analysis | Anna.aero. PPS Publications Ltd, 2008. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.anna.aero/2008/09/05/us-airways-defying-us-trends-with-healthy-growth-at-its-main-charlotte-hub/>.