Aspirations

Inside and outside AIDICO I have learned a lot about civil engineering. Outside of AIDICO, I have noticed the very different infrastructure.

 The traffic circles and roundabouts are the most significant difference. They flow so nicely here, actually the traffic in general flows so nicely here. I also noticed all of their crosswalks are further from the intersections and always perpendicular to the street. In my Street & Highway Design class at UTA, I learned that this is a much safer way to handle pedestrian crossing. My favourite part of the infrastructure here is the bike paths! They are so cute! I learned a lot about bikes paths and lanes too and it is great to finally see examples of it in person. I love how the people here walk and bike so much. So much that they have signalized crosswalks! Like the cars and trams have a red light solely to let people cross. I've never seen that in the states. Maybe they have it where there are more pedestrians. Also, I noticed that the texture of the sidewalks change near the crosswalks. I’m pretty sure this is for the blind which is such a smart way to handle it. Maybe they do that in the US too, I forgot already. While working at AIDICO I’ve learned a lot of new civil engineering related things. I´m getting a lot better of a feel for the metric system for sure! I have learned engineering and construction vocabulary in Spanish. This is a great tool for engineers that work in construction. I have learned about the differences in the testing and certification of construction safety equipment. I am also learning to communicate better. Living in an environment with a language barrier, it is important to learn how to say things the simplest way possible and still get the point across. I do consider this to be a civil engineering skill. When working in consulting, it is crucial to be able to communicate the essence of an engineering project to people who are not engineers. Simplicity is always key with communication. I have also learned how to be more aware of dangers in construction sites. The lab I work in is dangerous but my mentor is very good at telling me what precautions I should take. For example, here´s a video of a test we did. We all were away from the testing area since the whole formwork structure could fall.

 I can use this international education experience to help with giving a world perspective on projects. Civil engineering is the design, construction, and maintenance of the physically or naturally built environment. We all live in slightly different environments but civil engineering is still a global thing. We need to be able to compare and contrast what works and what doesn’t when it comes to design and maintenance of our environments. This experience also helps me understand other cultures better and communicate better. This will help a lot in group projects and interacting with others in general. This international experience is definitely helping me shape my future goals. I´m still kind of torn between research and industry but this experience will help me finally decide. Research is great because it is always changing and it helps shape the industry. I like that research is typically not a nine to five job. One of my main life goals was to try to live in Spain for a while and work here. I used to always joke about it so it’s crazy that I´m actually here. Unfortunately, economically that is a terrible idea to stay here beyond this program. So I’m really grateful that I am getting this IRES experience since it is letting me live one of my dreams for 5 weeks. And I hope the economic situation here gets better soon!!

View from my balcony here

 I think the economic problems here are helping me shape my future goals too. It is very inspiring that the people I work with have such a positive attitude and still put 100% into their job given the situation they have been put in. I know from family experiences that even though you have spent so much time building a career, it can easily be taken away at any moment. I feel like the people at AIDICO have this instilled in them too since they’ve seen so many of their co-workers get laid off. This mindset really helps people enjoy their job and not count down to 5 pm everyday or count down to Friday. My career objective is to enjoy what I do and to not take the opportunities I have been given for granted.

Culture

I noticed cultural differences the second I got off the plane in Zurich. All the european people just seem to have a different vibe. Even the flight attendants on the plane seemed to know which passengers to speak to in german and which to speak to in english. (Except they did accidentally talk to me in german a couple time but i guess my 1/4 austrian must have thrown them off). The first cultural difference I noticed on arriving in Valencia was how everyone speaks with their hands so much! Also, the women here dress so well all the time. I mean even on flights; I fly in yoga pants and tennis!
I think learning a language is a great way to learn about a culture. For example, in vietnamese they don´t have the word "if" so they don´t worry as much as other people since they can´t even say "what if." Anyways I´m learning the Spanish language and I think it helps me understand the culture better. I know a lot of Mexican Spanish but its crazy to learn how many words are different. As shown in this funny video that my new Valencian friend showed me after he tried to have a convo with me in spanish.

 As for different sights in this country, topless people on the beach is definitely something you don´t see in the states! Also couples here show a lot more PDA! (The topless people at the beach showing a lot of PDA is even more culturally shocking). I´ve noticed there are a lot more women working here in AIDICO than in most engineering companies in the states. One of the many difference in the work environment is the attire the ladies wear to work. They dress really cute then just change into the work boots when necessary. For another example, I´m writing this at work right now lol. I defintely couldn´t do this at my internship back home. They are a lot more laid back about safety in the laboratories also. It´s kinda funny since I work in the "saftey lab" lol but they still are really safe since the one I work in is really dangerous. Here's a pic of it even though it doesn't really show how big or tall it is though!

Another cultural difference in the work environment is the manager that walks around smoking his pipe and smokes ciggarettes in the office. The way of life is much different especially the general day schedule. The business hours are hard to get used to though! I´m definitely a fan of the siesta. I kinda like the eating schedule. It's a nice breakfast, then a snack at 11ish, a big lunch at 2-3, siesta time, a snack in the afternoon, then finally a late dinner at 9-10 pm. The food is very different too, I was expecting spicy because of Mexican food but it's still good. This picture is of Bravas. It's fries and tabasco sauce with a ton of this butter/mayo stuff on it?? It was good but then it was so greasy it hurt my stomach. But it was fun we watched the world cup and had una jarra (a pitcher). This is a place really close to our flat.

 I have to say italy and mexico are still winning the food competition. We did have some really great sangria though! I also like the fanta and cerveza mix! The night life schedule is way different too! We didn´t even get to the club until 2:00 am the other night! The coolest part is they can basically tailgate in the parking lot of the bars and there are people selling cold beers for like one euro too! (They do it on the beach too it´s so convienent). Then they stay out sooo late. We saw the sunrise both times we´ve gone out so far. I asked this guy I met if it was normal to stay up till 8 am partying and he laughed and said "Welcome to Spain." We walked to the port after the disco and watched the sunrise with them, it was really fun. We were exhausted from the walk but it was worth it.

 One cultural challenge for me is the way guys talk to you at bars. They are very forward and persistant! I mean I barely understand what they are saying and they still try. They are very touchy as well and too persistant for me. One guy I met told me in very broken english that it didn´t matter because there´s no language for love or something and then went in to do the little kiss kiss greeting they do but tried to actually kiss me! I´d literally known him for a minute and a half and he wasn´t even that cute. Overall, I like the Spanish culture and am really enjoying life in Valencia!

When I grow up

I'm not one of the engineers that played with legos their whole life and always dreamed of building bridges. I actually didn't really know exactly what an engineer did until college. I never really knew the answer to the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" question (and honestly I still don´t!). My first year of college I had no idea what degree to choose and took basics at a community college. Then I decided that I wanted to try to do something that would help the environmental problems we face. So I went to UTA for environmental biology. Then everyone asked what I'm going to do with that degree and I didn't know the answer to that question either. My sister and her friend told me I should look into engineering since I like math and it has a lot of job opportunities. At first I was really intimated by it since everyone says it's so hard. I went into the program with the mindset of "I'll just switch back to bio if I don't make it." I chose Civil since they had an environmental engineering program. Unfortunately, I realized that's not exactly what it seems. So now I'm set on Structures. I like it and it's challenging and interesting. I used to be really scared and doubt my ability to succeed in engineering but now I realize that it's an achievable goal. Sustainability is becoming more popular in structural engineering. I want to work with sustainability and try to make it more widespread in the field of structures. I've already learned at AIDICO the amount of pollution that the manufacturing of cement causes. Using alternate construction materials could help reduce the negative effects on the environment. I also think that as a woman, I can offer a different perspective in the profession.

Becoming a civil/structural engineer will help me reach my professional goals as well as personal. I want to help inspire young girls to be confident in their abilities. When I was little I never personally knew a woman engineer and never saw one in the media. I actually didn´t meet one until I was in my first engineering class. Obviously engineering isn't for everyone, but I think young girls should know the door is open. People always make jokes that you get a lot of stuff handed to you just for being a girl, but they forget that girls know how do open doors for themselves too. I like helping kids in general realize math isn´t evil! Last semester I was involved in a project where high school kids made bridges out of balsa wood that met certain criteria. Then we tested them to see which was the strongest. It was really fun and hands on way to help them see that math and engineering are actually fun and useful!

I also tutored at a junior high school a couple years ago for an AVID class. AVID is a program that helps prepare kids for the path to college. It´s meant for the kids that are just on the edge of the honors classes. I remember when I was struggling in my first honors math class in 7th grade the teacher said, "Would you rather be at the top of the regular classes, or the bottom of the honors classes?" I´m glad I stuck with the honors classes so I enjoyed helping the kids stick with their honors classes. At the beginning none of them wanted any career that was math related at all, but at the end of the semester one shy kid asked me a lot about engineering. I was so happy that he has that option now! I like engineering because it gives you the knowldege and tools to literally design and build the world you want to live in. Engineering in it´s essence giving solutions to problems, and I think the STEM education is a huge problem. Not only do I want to be an engineer, but I want to be involved in getting kids to realize it´s a fun career.

A professional goal of mine is to perhaps work with airplane structures. It is a very specific part of structural engineering but since my dad is a pilot, I've always liked airplanes and am so intrigued by how they work. It is so crazy how they actually fly?!? This is a pic from the flight here, swiss air is so nice! I actually noticed while boarding the flight that the plane was made by the company ThyssenKrupp. At my previous internship I was working on a ThyssenKrupp project. We were designing the connections for the industrial plant that they designed the structure of.