Skype Interview

My SIL calls these "Brag Posts" cause it's all about how amazing I am! ;-)  Seriously though, the blog is my journal for right now and I want to capture these moments for myself.  I'm not sure why I feel so awkward posting this kind of stuff... it is a blog about my family after all.  Anyways, you've been warned. 

A few weeks ago I got an email through EngineerGirl.org (the website I volunteer for).  It was a teacher at a science and technology magnet high school in North Carolina.  She wanted to know if I would be willing to speak to her classes via Skype in a few days.  She told me that she wanted a professional to talk to them about how important it is to work hard to reach their goals in life.  I was so excited! 

When the interview day finally came I had two wonderful ladies from my ward (Laura Lowder and Denise Olsen) come over to help watch the girls while I went upstairs in the office.  Each interview was about 30-40 min long.  

I prepared a ppt presentation to share with them that gave an overview of my career: BYU FSAE, Chrysler Internship, F135 JSF Jet Engines @ P&W, Stay at home mom.  I shared lots of pictures and a few videos to hopefully get them excited about engineering.  Here is a snapshot of the material I shared along with the YouTube videos.

  

The first class was Algebra 1.  It was mostly 9th graders - and they asked funny questions!  Some example of the questions they asked:

• Did you ever think to go to MIT? ( Many of them had never heard of BYU before, so I explained that I chose to go there and it is just as competitive as anywhere else.  Also, I worked right next to people from Purdue, MIT, Harvard, etc - we all got the same job out of college)
• Did you ever want to be a race car driver? (haha!  I don't think that lifestyle is for me)
• What's your favorite car? (Mustang)
• What's your favorite car company? (Ford)
• Ok, but why is Ford your favorite? (Besides that fact that they put money in my bank account? I like their business model and their car lineup)
• Ok ok ok, but what cars do you like besides Ford? (probably a Begatti Veyron or Aerial Atom)
• Alright, but what older cars do you like? (haha - all these questions were from the same kid, finally the teacher told him no more car questions)
• How much $ do you make? (this was a popular concern, I showed them a graph of average starting salaries for BS in engineering)
• What should we do in high school to prepare for college? (do your homework, study hard, join clubs/extracurricular activities that are in your area of interest - that will really help your college application)
• Did you ever struggle with math? (umm, I don't really remember struggling with math.  But if you're having difficulties you should ask your teacher for extra help or even another TA who can explain the concept in a different way.  Oh, I remember hating English *laughs*)
• What helped you be successful in your career? (Have good presentation skills.  There are many talented engineers out there.  The way to stand out is to clearly be able to share your ideas and information.  The teacher was so happy I said that cause they were having to do presentations that same day!  That's why they all have poster boards on their desks.)
• If you went to BYU, are you LDS? (yes)  ME TOO!!!  (it was the kid in the front row with the red shirt and long curly hair!!!)

The next interview was for her Sci Viz class.  They were mostly 12th graders and had more thoughtful questions like:

• When did you know you wanted to be an engineer? (in high school my AP Physics teacher was a retired engineer and my mentor.  He helped me realize that it would be a good fit for me and that I could do it)
• What was the most fun thing you've done in your career? (driving all sorts of trucks in crazy environments on my internship)
• What was the hardest thing about going from high school to college (time management, no one there to watch you, try to do your homework on campus not in the dorms, that way you won't get distracted with all the fun activities)
• How did you balance work and kids? (prioritize, give yourself permission to not do everything... like the laundry *laughs*)
• How much money did you make?  (this was a popular question)
• As they were signing off one boy yelled "I love you" and another blew me a kiss *awkward* Jake was like "let me at them!" haha!

I also talked to this class about the design process utilizing tools like CAD (since that's what they're studying).  

Volunteering for EngineerGirl.org has been the best thing for me.  It has provided me many opportunities to feel connected to the engineering community.  Most of the time I get questions from girls across the country asking for advice/help/direction.  A few months ago I received this:

A new question has been posted on Jenni Glauser FAQ.The question is: Hi, my name is Karla and I am recently a sophomore in high school, and I would like to say that you are now my inspiration to proceed with my dream of being a Aeronautical engineer. I some times think I will never be able to reach my life time goal, but it's people like you who have actually reached it who make me not want to quit. Thank you for inspiring me too focus on what I want for my future career! also you are truly amazing! Sincerely, Karla.
Posted by Karla from Hillsboro, Oregon

Earlier this year I was able to be apart of the Michigan's Women's Hall of Fame STEM exhibit.  I love being a Stay at Home Mom and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do so.  But I am also thankful for little things like these that help me feel there are other facets to me besides being a milk machine. :-)