Data from the Ridgway Record:
According to data from the Society of Women Engineers in the fourth quarter of 2019, around 13 percent of engineers are women in the United States. While this number certainly is low, it is great progress considering where the percentages must have stood just two or three generations ago.
For Ridgway native Rachel Smith ’20, a graduate of Gannon University with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering, becoming an engineer, and an environmental engineer at that, was something bigger than breaking barriers, but rather more about finding what she was passionate about.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do early in my senior year of high school,” Smith explained. “I knew I was good at math and science, so I decided to combine them and thought this would be the perfect area of study and career for me.” Smith was split between Saint Francis University and Gannon University, but felt Gannon and a city college experience would be something that would help her not just grow as an intellectual, but also as a person.
How right she was as she quickly became involved with the campus’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) club on campus while also taking advantage of the Erie, Pennsylvania industry with internships and co-ops at General Electric and EcoLab. “My biggest takeaway from these experiences was how to talk to people, organize meetings, ask the right questions, be a great team member, and work with different professionals. These experiences really taught me a lot of the “soft skills” when it comes to being a professional.”
As previously mentioned, Smith went on to graduate from Gannon in the spring of 2020, a difficult time for the world as we knew it. Just a few weeks before her graduation, the Ridgway native had some leads, interviews, and some potential options on where her career could lead her. In the middle of March of 2020, these leads and opportunities were no more as many companies furloughed employees and went through hiring freeze initiatives.
When looking back on a frustrating time to enter the job market, Smith said “I felt like a failure a little bit and was ghosted from some companies where I thought I had a good chance of landing a job. It was extremely difficult to up and leave my friends because we thought we had a few weeks together still. After a little bit of time, I took the opportunity to relax and see my parents in stride before sending out countless applications to try to get my career started.”
After around 100 applications were sent out to various employers, it only took one to present her the offer she had been waiting for. Keystone Consultants, LLC was the company that Smith decided to begin her career at as a remote Engineering Technician/ Engineer in Training. While it was a challenge to begin her career in this role, she’s gotten the hang of it and is really enjoying her work.
Smith works remotely in Ridgway and helps the company with keeping pipelines clear of erosion, sediment, and storm water in the company’s pipelines in the state of Virginia. It is an important job as the firm has a presence in about a handful of states. Down the road, she also hopes to study to obtain her professional engineering license which would allow her to become a more marketable engineer and work on an increased list of projects. “I was given this advice because it is something that can really help my career for the better down the line. This is a goal I have set for myself down the road four to five years while also continuing to learn in the role that I am in now.”
While Smith feels much more comfortable in her role these days, there were some growing pains of beginning her first full-time job remotely as can be expected. “It was weird and difficult at first because I was new, I had not met anyone, and I could not have those small conversations with team members as quickly as I could have in person. At first, I did not think I would like it and I thought this job may not be for me, but as I started to connect with group members more and get better at reaching out for help, everything started to get easier.”
One thing that has however never gotten easier was leaving her senior year at Gannon so abruptly and a great group of friends she had made from all over the country. Despite being sent home in March of 2020, the Gannon graduating class from last spring was honored with a ceremony in early May to allow the graduates to celebrate properly with their peers in person. “It was the closure we all needed to move on,” said the Ridgway native. “We worked really hard for that moment, and it was a great move by Gannon to accommodate this for our class.”
Now that Smith is back in Elk County beginning her career, she has had the opportunity to rejoin the Ridgway Lady Elkers soccer program as an assistant varsity coach for the 2021 season. This and spending time hiking will keep her busy as the weather continues to improve as we inch towards summer.
While it may not have been a conventional end to college or a smooth transition into the workforce, Smith could not understate the importance of the support system she has had in her last few years especially. “I am so grateful for my parents (JoAnne and Steve Smith), the faculty at Gannon, and all the friends I made along the way. They have all had my back and pushed me to succeed. I credit all of them for encouraging me to branch out and seek more opportunity.”
The Gannon graduate wanted to share some final thoughts for those heading to college and especially those heading into STEM fields. “I encourage people to try as many things as they can, be open-minded, to become close with professors, and to keep trying their hardest even if they think something will not work out. The hard work is going to be worth it in the end.”