Post Graduation

After I graduated in December, I took a job with Jacobs Engineering in the Westchase District of Houston in their land development group as an EIT. I started at the beginning of January and now I have worked here for almost 4 months! Time has really been flying by.

So far I've been working on a very cool residential development in Spring, Texas. It is designed with Low Impact Development methods, which is right up my alley. I really do love that I can guide what I do and learn here at my job. I think it is very important to find a group to work for that has employees of many diverse backgrounds. 

Jacobs is really big on safety, if you haven't already heard. So I've managed to score some safety gear that is pink from my boss. They really want us to wear our Person Protection Equipment (PPE). =) I am very excited for the summer for when the interns arrive and we will be attending sites left and right. I'll post a picture of me decked out in my PPE soon enough!

Transitioning into the "adult" world has been quite interesting for me. It's really nice to be able to shut down my work computer, go home, and not have to stress out about any assignments that I should be doing. I can't remember my weekends being so stress free!

My group at my office is heavily involved with American Society of Military Engineers so I've been volunteering, attending events, and networking through this group. I am an American Society of Civil Engineer's younger member now, however, I have yet to find myself at their monthly meetings. I think it's much easier to attend the same professional societies that my group is involved in.

Apart from work, I have been extremely involved in the dance world! Dance has literally become my life now. I am a part of a dance studio called Naach Houston and my first production will be on May 30th at the Miller Outdoor Theater at 8:30 pm. It's entitled "Karma: the Wheel of Life". We do many styles of dance including contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop but we are primarily a Bollywood dance company.

I am glad that the working world has really opened my life up to enjoying the things that I simply couldn't afford or didn't have the time for before. C'est la vie! Maybe it's more fitting to say Esta la vida but I don't know if that's a real expression! ^.^

Outcomes

Now that I have completed a research experience, I feel competent enough to start a project on my own. It sounds easy but when presented with a project, it is difficult to know what to start with especially when you are researching something that has never been done before and when your mentor speaks a different language! I was helping my mentor to create a concrete mix using a rare cement and with chemical additions that have not been tested in concrete before. I developed a good sense of judgment as to what kinds of controls are needed in the experiments and what kind of safety precautions I should be taking. And because my mentor couldn’t explain her research to me, I had to read her work in Spanish and understand it on my own.

This new skill of being able to conduct research has also taught me what I don’t know, if that makes sense. When people talk about the things they know, they talk as if they know all there is to know about that subject matter, because well, it’s impossible to know what you don’t know. This research has made me realize that I can never be sure about the facts of the topic because they are just facts until they are proved wrong, which happens a lot in science. I think is important even as a life skill because you should never be too over confident that you know all there is about something or someone, and these things or people can change too.

I have also gained more confidence in myself. During the second week of my research internship, I was actually presented with another project that was very time consuming. I felt incredibly overwhelmed because I had two projects, one of which I had no experience in. In addition, I was taking three online courses back at Houston Community College and I wanted to sight-see too. There were two days where I was worried that I would have to drop out of one of my classes in order to keep up with them but if I dropped a course, it would delay my graduation date at UTA. Well, lo and behold, everything got done and I never thought it would be as smooth as it was. I had to skip out on maybe two events with my friends in total out of the 5 weeks I was abroad. I was very happy to see that I was able to juggle all these things together especially while being in a foreign country. I feel like anything is possible now.

Since my parents were immigrants to the USA they did not really know how university processes worked. No one told me that I had to apply to college or how to do it, I didn’t know I had to take the SATs or how to search for a school. My mother always supported me in whatever I did so I never felt the academic pressure from her but on the other hand, that mean not having any academic guidance. I applied for universities because all my friends were doing it and trying to get into the best school. Had I not been friends with aspirational people such as these, I don’t think I would have gone to university right away. Learning how to do all these things on my own has made me become a very decisive person. I had to make a lot of life changing decisions such as deciding if I wanted to be career oriented or family oriented. For example, the result of that decision is what influenced me to go to Drexel University over 1,000 miles away from my family and boyfriend. Having to make decisions such as this has taught me good decision making skills (what I consider to be good, anyway) and this has helped me to earn this opportunity to conduct research abroad. My background has also forced me to be very independent which came in handy when I was in another country out of my comfort zone. I had to ask for help in a language I was uncomfortable speaking which can be incredibly intimidating. Ordering food especially was hard but I had to do it or go eat from a grocery store. I did have internet on my phone but it was only good for texting – something I hate to do. I had gone without talking to my family for more than two weeks at a time. My family has taught me to be very strong and independent which I think has proved to be an asset for me on this study abroad experience. It has given me the ability to push through being out of my comfort zone and have that make me a better person. These skills have helped me when travelling to different cities in Spain and also to Paris.

Travelling to the Eiffel Tower

The biggest challenge between me and my mentor was not the lack of educational training but it was the time frame. July was a very stressful month for my mentor because she was trying to complete all her projects by August 1 so that she could go on vacation. This meant that she did not have much time to discuss things with me. I had to perform experiments using materials that I personally thought were good and then put my results in a table and wait until the very end of the research experience to present them to her. This was a lot of pressure because I had no idea if I was doing what she wanted me to do all along before I made my presentation, poster, and report. She didn’t check my work along the way, which as you could imagine, is very frightening. In the end, my mentor was very pleased with my work and is actually turning in the test results that I produced into a super plasticizer manufacturing company so they can put my results on record because these tests had never been performed before. How exciting!

Here is cohort 1! I'm so happy to have made such wonderful friendships with these guys. 

Me with my poster.

Social Identities

My preconceptions of Spain were very different than what it is. I have been to Europe before but for touring and not living. I hit the major cities and I suppose that I based my expectations of Valencia on those experiences. I noticed differences in architecture, fashion, emotions, lifestyle, language, and food.

I was expecting the architecture to have a lot of intricate work and for it to be very old, being that Spain has had very old civilizations. When I came to Valencia, a lot of the buildings were brand new. I visited Umbracle and the neighboring museums and they were very modern looking. The architecture isn't the same as in Texas, however. Apartment buildings turn the streets into deep valleys. There are shops at the ground floor of all the buildings. I live above a cafe and a bedding shop. I noticed that a lot of apartment buildings have rooftop patios which I think is extremely cool but unfortunately, my building does not have this. I also noticed a lot of "green roofs". This is when the roof of a building is covered with plants and the purpose of this is to keep the sun's heat from entering the building from the top. I was expecting to have air conditioning everywhere but that is a luxury here. There are some incredibly hot days but most of the time, I feel like it could be manageable. There are no storm screens either but not very many bugs to keep out so that's not a problem either. So many of the things I thought were standard in every home, aren't here!

Some typical apartment architecture of Valencia

Umbracle architecture

The old district in Valencia

The differences in fashion are really fun to talk about because I think it contributes to how the people here act as a whole. In the USA, everyone tries to dress the same. For example, when I was elementary school, bellbottoms were super cool and everyone was wearing them. Or one time, bandannas were cool in elementary too but they weren't in middle or high school. Here, the people have their own style and it all looks so good! People aren't afraid to wear "outdated" clothes here and they have their own definition of what looks good. The people have the mentality here that everyone is different and should embrace that. 

The topic of fashion leads me into the discussion of public display of affection here. People can have full make-out sessions on the streets or on the subways and it is not considered weird! A girl can be topless on the beaches and it's natural. The people here show their emotions when they feel it and they are not afraid of being rejected. I think we have the opposite problem in the USA because we are a melting pot of cultures and differences which causes a lot of clashes between people. In the USA, we are always trying to figure out how we should be but in Spain, they are already the way they should be - or in fact, there is no "should". I would say that a typical Spaniard can feel all six basic emotions in a work day. The lives here are very animated. People are just not afraid to feel. 

Lifestyle is different in the sense of what time people do things. I get off of work at 3 and typically one would have lunch at this time here. Afterwards would be a siesta and dinner is at 10. The shops and restaurant operate around this schedule too. I think this lifestyle is making me a lethargic person because I am not very good at taking just naps. I like to sleep for long periods of time. If I go to bed early, it's too loud. I thought it somewhat quiet on the streets but there are always people outside! The trams are always going and people are eating out at the cafes on the street until midnight, even on weekdays!

There are many languages in Valencia. This city is like a college town and there are international studetns everywhere. I notice Italians all the time at work, in the streets, in the shops, and at the beach. This is such an incredible thing to me because I love meeting people from different parts of the world. Valencia has a lot of "intercambias" going on every night where people from all over the world get together to hang out. I didn't expect to speak much English here but here I am experiencing full days without speaking Spanish in Spain! It was very interesting to notice that when people of different languages get together, they use English to communicate. I never even thought this would be the case. English has ended up being the middle ground between a lot of cultures which is cool because that is what the USA is. Although the English here tends to be more British rather than American.

I heard that the food in Spain wasn't very spicy but I thought that at the very least that I would be able to find a chili pepper here so I could cook with it. No! I couldn't find a hot pepper anywhere but I did find some hot sauce which is made in Spain. There must be a secret vault somewhere... The vegetables here are so full of flavor so I don't see many foods with added spices like back home. MSG is definitely not needed here although I would say the food is a bit more bland than what I'm used to.

What I have learned from being abroad:

When it comes down to talking about social identity, I would say that in the USA our identity is to not have one. I, for example, was raised in an Indian family and have lived abroad but spent most of my time in the USA. I have my own identity that doesn't mesh with a single group of people because they don't have the same morals as I. Sure, I identify with certain environmentalist groups or dancers but then I end up disagreeing with their inconsistencies or ignorance in other areas. I think it's hard to have a social identity in the USA because there is so much of everything. I couldn't say that dancing, sports, or vegetarianism are parts of the culture because there so many people who like these things as many as there are people who hate these things. I hate fast food establishments and processing food in ways that are harmful to the land and I always end up finding people who are similar to me in this way. But I think others would say that all of America is fat and is in love with the fast-food culture. I think maybe this was true at one point, but there are just too many people on different sides. All in all, I feel like the identity I have observed about Spaniards is very generalized and may not even be accurate at all. Because I live in the USA, I don't feel like I can generalize the people there because I've experienced it as a mixture of mentalities and cultures.

New thoughts about my career

In my research, I have been exposed to in depth concrete design. In university, I used volumetric methods to determine the dosages of the concrete materials. In AIDICO, I have been working with densities in order to determine the dosages. This was a challenge for me because my frame of reference of what sounds about right is skewed. However, I have gained a new ability to work in a different system. In addition, I learned how to research dosification. I have been working with calcium aluminate cement which is not very common. Because of this, I was not able to find typical dosages of materials as I would have been able to do had I been working with portland cement. The reference books such as the American Concrete Institute were not helpful in my tasks. It was necessary to run experiments to determine the dosages on my own which was a very wonderful experience. I had run some of these tests before in my materials laboratory but I had never seen such high-tech equipment before. In addition to learning new systems for concrete design and how to use high-tech testing equipment, I have also learned something about how the business works. When a company is in need of a special concrete, they seek out a research facility such as AIDICO to fabricate a design for them that meets their parameters. I was under the impression that the civil engineer or the contractor designing or building the structure would need to do this. This was very interesting to me because the external company does not even know if this special concrete design is possible or how long it will take to create it.

A picture of the new standards book I had to use. (It's in Spanish!)

I have learned to be more independent in the way that I learn. During my time her at AIDICO, my mentor was very pressed for time and she gave me books and articles to read. I found out how to look for the information I need within thousands of pages of technical writing. Now that I have this, I feel more comfortable about my senior design course that I will be taking in the fall. I heard many people get to this class do not know how or where to begin. I feel like I now know who to call for help and where to look for the information I need without wasting a lot of time. In addition, I now feel like I have the skills to work with a more diverse group of people in group projects for school. UTA is a very culturally diverse school and even though I come from a different culture myself, I feel like I never appreciated the differences between people as much as I do now. I am going to take advantage of this diversity at my school and really get to know people and where they come from. I will be sure to get to know my group members on a personal level because this is important when working together. In the past, I would just want to meet up to do the work and then leave so that I could do my own things after. Now, I will make the effort to have a little fun while working too because that is what is important.

I have always dreamed about moving to a different country to start a career. However, recently it had seemed as though this would be hard for a civil engineer because the design is based on location specific standards. I saw the challenges of working in a different measuring system and how it can lead to a lot of misunderstanding. And yes, I did experience those things while I was here but I think those challenges are worth taking on because it has forced me to learn the concepts better. So now, I feel as though it is possible to start a civil engineering career in a different country. I feel that I can be a huge asset because of my English. It seems as though that companies see big opportunities in employees who can speak English because conferences and training are often done in English, something I found very surprising. This opportunity has also taught me how important it is to find a company and stick with it for a long time. I have found out that companies are literally investing on you when they hire you as they are spending a lot of time and resources to train you. To leave a company shortly after this would be rude and would force me to start new relationships and prove my work ethic all over again. I have decided that I will now take the time to find the perfect company for me. I am graduating in December and always felt that I need to have a job lined up right away. Now I feel like it is worth taking the time to find the company that suits me well since I want to stay there for a long time. If I am going to leave Texas and my family for a career in a new state or country, I am going to make sure it is with the company of whose mentality I deem moral.

A picture of some of the most tedious thing I had to do,
but with a good group of colleages, it wasn't all that bad! 

The people here at AIDICO really value their family and their relationships. They don’t feel the need to push 60 hours a week even though deadlines are approaching. Now in the summer, they are working 8 – 3 so that they have time to be with their kids since they are out from school. They take sufficient breaks from the workday and form really close personal relationships with one another and I think this contributes to their overall happiness. They have a lot of natural light coming in through the windows and we all share offices and desks. People take walks outside together after work when it’s nice out. I have realized that this is what I want in a company and that it is important that my morals match those of the company or else I will be unhappy. I did feel that the work I was performing here was not really in my interest range since my project changed in the last minute. However, I learned that even if I don’t like the work that I am doing, I can still be happy as long as my work environment is up to par. 

Me and the Ana, the coordinator at AIDICO, at her countryside house.

La Cultura

I learned a little bit of Spanish on my own prior to coming here. I would say that I knew the equivalent of one college semester in beginner Spanish. Generally, I find that the people here speak very fast even if they know you're a foreigner! I also feel like I can understand Mexicana better than Español because that's what I'm used to hearing. The letter 'c' is typically pronounced as a 'th' which is good to know to expect. Some people speak English in Valencia but I wouldn't rely on speaking English to the locals if you need to communicate. However, the people here at AIDICO love to speak English and they prefer that you do speak it with them because they are trying to learn it. One important word to learn is Vale (bah-lei) which means OK!

Being immersed in a Spanish speaking country, one would expect to learn the language better. As for me, I haven't really learned as much Spanish as I thought I would. In my apartment we speak English as it comes naturally and at work we do too. We've been able to manipulate a little USA in our apartment because we are the only influence in it besides the appliances and furniture there. Our habits are the same as they would be in the States

My feelings are so strong about this because of my very recent trip to Honduras and because I know how drastic the cultural differences can be from my travel experiences abroad and from living in India for a short time. These are experiences that I believe I cannot translate to words. One must simply experience them. 

I would describe my cultural experience here as if I live in a little USA bubble. Sometimes, I don't even feel like I'm in Spain. I think for some people, this is a good thing because it prevents some culture shock. But, as a lover of travel and new cultures, this is a bad thing. I feel like I'm not getting the full experience of this program. This program is about globalization which includes sharing technologies and research but it also includes learning how to become assimilated with another part of the world. When I leave here, I don't want my souvenirs to be solely material. I want to bring back more than just a keychain, I want to know more about how to cook, speak, think, and live like Spaniards.

I know I'll start noticing more cultural differences over the next few weeks and I'm excited. Siestas are real here and the operating hours of the store work around it. There is a mid morning snack called almuerzo and this is worked into the work day. Lunch is eaten after work at about 3 pm. Then dinner is eaten around 8 to 10 pm. At first, I didn't know almuerzo existed and I would just starve the entire work day. But now, I'm not hungry during the work day! Another weird cultural difference here is the color of the people. I don't think the people here are used to seeing brown skin like mine. People have commented to me THREE times already about why I'm dark!!!!! 

The architecture in Valencia is very unique in comparison to Texas. Six to ten story apartment buildings create valleys everywhere, making it really easy to get lost! The street names are posted on the building corners instead of having street signs like in the States, also making it harder to find your way. So far I have not gone sightseeing so much. I have been to a few parties that are organized by international organizations but since those were all at night, I couldn't see the buildings! I hope to visit La Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias and the main city center soon. The beaches are within walking distance and are very beautiful compared the Galveston area.

I went to a shopping mall called Arena Multiespacio and that was just lovely! It's not indoors nor outdoors. There is a canopy over the entire mall that lets in light and the air from the outside can come in but also the shops have A/C. 

However, Spain can be a cultural shock if you have not experienced the east, west, north, and south of the United States. Public transportation is crucial here in contrast to Texas. Customer service is hard to deal with here in contrast to the south, especially as a foreigner who does not speak the language. It's not easy to get what you want here but I wouldn't blame that on the culture, I would blame that on my ability to not communicate with the people. I would say that this experience is just as culturally shocking as when I moved to Philadelphia for college. I remember how making a dental appointment in Philly ruined my week because of sassy and rude people are to strangers. People are fast paced up there and aren't friendly to strangers like they are in Texas. I think it can be easy to compare the USA to Spain on the fly and say one is better at certain things, but we must remember that Texas, and the South, has a culture of its own. 

For example, we shower when we want, we go explore when we want, we eat when we want. Like I said before, it's hard to explain what I'm talking about. One just has to have the experience to know. During my few days with Ana, I felt the difference. I felt that time passed by slower because of the way that they craft their day. The mind wasn't constantly running and wasn't over worked. I got to experience the language of Valenciana (different than Spanish), the food of a Valencian, the TV shows, the music, and the typical day here. I ate my cereal in a bowl of coffee for heaven's sake! I even ate something that looked like worms!

Part of globalization is being able to have a different mentality and understand how morals can be different from yours. What you think is right can be something someone else thinks is wrong and it is important to be able to love someone spite the big differences. That's the only way we can get a long with other cultures of the world and this is the reason that wars break out. Our ability to not love people of different morales, religions, colors, food, clothing, and even smells causes fights that lead to bigger problems.

My Introduction

Vamos a Valencia!!!

I just got awarded an opportunity to participate in research abroad in Valencia, Spain! I am incredibly excited about the opportunites that this research will give me. During my time here, I will be helping my mentor design a concrete mix that has been requested by an outside company. This concrete will be used to store solar energy and so it's requirements are incredibly uncommon. I'll let you know a little secret. It is going to resist temperatures greater than 600 degrees... CELSIUS! The research opportunity will amount to a total of 5 weeks.

I know I'm going to be learning a lot of technical things about concrete, but I am also looking forward to my experience in a new country making friends with locals and becoming better friends with las chicas and los chicos of Texas.

This song "Bailando" is the theme song of my trip. I'm lucky it plays everywhere I go..maybe I wont be so happy about this later...!

First off, I must mention that I'm studying civil engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. I've always felt confident in math and science classes and it made the most sense to me to put my technical talents to use. I have always had an interest in games like Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and the like where you get to design and plan cities, theme parks, and houses. Naturally, an engineering degree seems like a good idea because it caters to my talents. However, I chose civil because of the direct impact it has on people. The simple things such as irrigation, roads, fire hydrants, and street lights are all because of civil engineers. Cities are protected from floods, earthquakes, snow loads, etc, due to the help of civil engineers. Civil engineering has many subsections within it, including environmental engineering which is where my <3 lies.

But what do I want to accomplish?

My ultimate goal in my career is to obtain the skills to design a sustainable community and offer a program that will allow a group of people to sign up to live in it. In the United States, we have programs that support low-income families. However, this money forces people to become dependent on solely that and it becomes difficult to move up in society. People who grow up in the hood, tend to stay there because parents can't afford private education or even decent education. Parents work days and nights and children don't get the nurturing that they need. Often, federal and state education standards prevent teachers from being able to educate their students the way that they would work better.

In the United States, monocultures have manifested and crops are grown with synthetic fertilizers that are proven to cause health problems. People who have little money and little time often buy unhealthy, processed foods which leads to health issues that no one can afford. It's a sad life and I think that it is possible to offer something different. In a sustainable community, we can design neighborhoods and communities that work together to make things cheaper for everyone. Ideas include permaculture farming and assigning crafts that each house can create and trade. Other ideas include the sustainable building design such as eliminating the use of artificial lighting, air conditioning, and destructive sources of energy. We can design plants and animals to coexist so that they are benefiting each other. This idea isn't new, it is called permaculture and it's a topic that if you are not familiar with, you definitely should look into it. I would recommend and book by Michael Pollan called "The Omnivore's Dillema".

I want to have the community be as independent as possible from the city in the case that local taxes cannot fix problems in the city such as contaminated water, energy outages, etc. I want this community to be able to get their food from their gardens which will improve their health, I want this community to be able to harness its own electricity and use less of it through creative design, which should cut down costs. The technology exists to build this community, it just requires intelligent and creative minds to design it in a cost-effective way.

"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." - unknown
This is the quote that fuels my fire.

So there you have it! I want to use the sustainable land development skills that I will acquire throughout my career to create a non-profit program that can design sustainable living communities that offer an alternative way of dealing with poverty, for those who wish to switch lifestyles.

Hopefully my time at the AIDICO research facility will help me gain the technical experience that will benefit my career. I am also looking forward to making friends with my colleagues and the locals.