***Editor’s Note: The “I Became An Engineer” blog runs every friday. To share your story email sarah.goncalves@advantagemedia.com***
This week’s story is brought to us by reader Kathy Grise, Senior Program Director, IEEE Future Directions, IEEE Senior Member, Organizing Committee Member, upcoming IEEE Technology Time Machine conference.
I grew up in Washington, Pennsylvania in the only Chinese-American family in a small town. My parents ran a laundry. My mother—a very strong, smart, loving woman—always encouraged me to do my best.
In middle school, I loved numbers, logic, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, biology, chemistry—you name it. Though I was a girl applying myself in traditionally male pursuits, I didn’t feel different. But there were signs. Girls were encouraged to take cooking, shorthand, and sewing. I was more interested in taking auto mechanics and shop classes. At the time, that was simply not allowed.
I’d ask, “How come I can’t take those courses?” Unfortunately, the answers were always some variation of “that’s the way it is.”
I recall a visit to our family physician, and I mentioned my interest in pursuing medical school and becoming a doctor. The physician, who was male, said, “Oh, I thought you would go into nursing.” I looked at him, like, “Really?”
These sorts of incidents were just a reflection of the times.
I should mention that I also loved languages, starting in high school. My older brother took German. I always looked up to him and took all the German classes available. When I exhausted German, I took Latin. After the shock of failing my first Latin quiz, I devoted myself to scoring a 100 percent or more on every quiz and exam. The teacher gave me an A+. The Latin teacher was interesting to me because he also taught biology. He always encouraged me to advance in both languages and sciences, and I graduated as valedictorian with a straight 4.0 from high school.
At that point, I really wanted to attend Carnegie Mellon University. I pretty much knew what I wanted to do. But my parents were elderly and in failing health, so I essentially became the bread winner. Attending CMU would mean living on campus and being away. So I commuted to a local college—Washington and Jefferson. It’s a really great private school, but its offerings were limited compared to CMU at the time. My only option was to major in mathematics. I continued with German, then Russian language studies. Even with today’s emphasis on science and technology, studies show that using the brain for the arts complements work in the sciences.
During my senior year, my advisor encouraged me to attend a job fair in nearby Pittsburgh. After driving through a snow storm to attend, I discovered very few companies showed up due to the storm. Fortunately, IBM made it, which was hiring for its facility in Burlington, Vermont, where I live to this day. They hired me as a computer programmer to support their automated semiconductor chip fabrication lines.
Working for a large company offers opportunities to change jobs without having to leave. Over time, I moved into hardware verification, which drew on my software and language skills. Through on-the-job training, I had finally become an engineer.
Looking back, I was voted “Most Quiet” in high school, and it’s taken me a long time to find my voice. Today, I have a leadership role in the IEEE’s Future Directions program, and I mentor women and men in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), as well as share my passion for STEAM (STEM + Art).
No one thinks of me as “quiet” anymore.
Read other stories, here:
- A Note From The Editor: An Engineer’s Story
- I Became An Engineer: Because Of A Lunch Box
- I Became An Engineer: Because of Christmas Lights
- I Became An Engineer: Because Of The Cool Jackets
- I Became An Engineer: Because My Dad Said Not To
- I Became An Engineer: Despite Being Bad At Math
- I Became An Engineer: Because of Uncle Chet
- I Became An Engineer: Because I Can’t Stop Asking ‘Why?’
- I Became An Engineer: Because of Star Trek (Specifically Montgomery Scott)
- I Became An Engineer: Because I Was A Really Lucky Nerd
- I Became An Engineer: But ‘Nobody Knows’ Why
- I Became An Engineer: Because of Nuclear Submarines
- I Became An Engineer: Because of a Sewing Machine
- I Became An Engineer: Because No One Was Hiring Shoe Salesmen
- I Became An Engineer: Because of Mr. Kenny, the TV/Radio Repair Man
- I Became An Engineer: Because of a Book (And My Mom)
- I Became An Engineer: Because of a Cattle Ranch
- I Became An Engineer: Because of a Wise Father and the Possibility of Death
- I Became An Engineer: Because of An Evil Mastermind
- I Became An Engineer: To Get Off the Tractor
- I Became An Engineer: Because of My Rodeo Coach
- I Became An Engineer: Because the Air Force Equipment Kept Breaking
- I Became an Engineer: Because My Mom Let Me Take Apart the Old Vacuum
- I Became An Engineer: Because I Liked Tearing My Toys Apart
- I Became An Engineer: Because of the Mysterious Glowing Tubes
- I Became An Engineer: Because of My Father, Star Trek, and Music
- I Became An Engineer: Because I Was Tired of Sweating
- I Became An Engineer: But Almost the Wrong Kind
- I Became an Engineer: Because of a Car
- I Became An Engineer: Because of a Trip to Disney World
- I Became An Engineer: Because I Ran Out of Programming Classes
- I Became An Engineer: Because of My Best Friend Joe