Who is An Engineer Mom?
Childhood
Growing up I had three sisters. My older half sister didn’t live with us most of the time so that made me the acting oldest sister to my two younger sisters. My father was a lawyer who wasn’t home much and my mom was teacher who worked hard to make sure the three of us had everything we needed and were able to participate in all the activities we wanted. It’s because of her example that I learned to be hard working and to figure out what’s important in life to me and prioritize that.
Why Engineering?
When I was getting close to graduating high school, the question everyone had asked all my life actually needed to be answered more seriously. All throughout school my favorite subject was math, even won a first place trophy at a math competition in 6th grade. I didn’t know at the time how a love for math and logic would transfer to a career.
Everyone I asked had two recommendations: teacher or engineer. I’d grown up watching my mom as a teacher and while I have so much respect for all teachers, she often had to bring her work home and wasn’t compensated the way I hoped to be one day. Teaching was not the path I wanted to take. What was an engineer? I didn’t know the answer to this question but after attending a camp at the closest engineering school, I decided it was something that interested me. It was a male dominated field and I was determined to prove that a female could be just as successful in this industry as a male.
What I'm Doing Now
I now am over ten years into my electrical controls engineering career and have two young children. Travel and long hours are often demands of the career that I love. I struggle sometimes with loving my job and still finding the balance to have enough time and energy to spend with my family. This blog is where I want to explore this on a deeper level, share my successes and struggles, and let other head strong women trying to find that balance between the demands of a full time career you love and a family you’d do anything for that you are not alone. Join me on my journey!
