Class of 2009
Major: Construction Engineering
Hometown: Bloomfield, IA
Extracurricular Activities: 2008 General co-chair for Engineer's Week, Solar Car Decathlon Team

What activities or organization are you involved in at Iowa State University?

Currently, I am the general co-chair for Engineer's Week. It's tons of fun, and I love it. I work with 17 people on the executive committee and get to meet a lot of other people through the different events that go on that week: picnics, career fair, intramurals, and the golf tournament. It's a good time for all engineering students to celebrate being an engineer. Last year, I helped with the Senior Visitation Day, which is where high school seniors, mostly from Iowa, come to campus during E-Week and do lots of different activities and tours on campus.

I am also on the cabinet for the Associated General Contractors Student Chapter. It's the student organization for construction engineering students. We do a lot of community service through that organization. We have worked with Habitat for Humanity, remodeled a bathroom at the ACCESS shelter in Ames, built dugouts at the athletic complex on 13 th street, and also do some high school outreach. The best activity we do is the Hurricane Katrina Relief trip the group has taken the past three years. A group of 45 students went down to southern Mississippi over spring break and helped with relief efforts in the area like framing houses, dry walling, and shingling. The program keeps growing and you meet new people on the trip all the time. I would go back in a heart beat.

What advice do you have for incoming students?

Don't be intimidated to get involved and do what you want to do. Don't be afraid to voice your opinion. There may not be very many women in the field but don't let that scare you, you can fulfill your dreams.

What are you future plans?

I want to work in residential construction or development. I have been interested in that since high school when I took a computer aided drafting class where we designed a house. I want to do a little bit of everything like designing, managing a building project whether it's single family homes or developments, and sales. I'm planning on getting my realtor's license after graduation so I can do the sales thing if I decide I want to.