One Year at EoT — Reflections

Rebecca White, Vanessa Raponi & Erica Lee-Garcia (left to right) after a productive “in-person” day at the office!

I couldn’t answer the question “mommy, why do you need to go to work?” anymore. The standard answers didn’t apply anymore. I didn’t enjoy my job any more, I didn’t need the money, my job didn’t align with my values. The cost (financial & emotional) of leaving my kids in daycare to “go to work” was becoming greater than the value I was getting out of my job.

Long story short — I sent an email, and found out about the work my university buddy, Erica was doing with Engineers of Tomorrow (EoT).

So now here I am, one year later, working as the Operations Manager at EoT. One of the things we like to do at EoT is talk about our Engineering Stories, so I thought this a fitting time to write about mine.

When I think back about the experiences that influenced my path, these were the instances that stood out for me:

Age 10: attended Science Quest at Queen’s University (happened to be a camper the first year it started!). Loved it so much kept going back year after year.

Age 16: had an amazing chemistry teacher — who later went on to teach at Queen’s University after retiring from his career as a high school teacher.

Age 18: Time to make a big decision — what to take in university. With two parents who were both elementary school teachers, you’d expect me to follow suit. But those positive experiences I had with Science Quest around Engineering in my younger years obviously influenced my decision, and the decision was made! Chemical Engineering.

Age 24: graduated from chemical Engineering and work in manufacturing (food and pharma) for the next 14 years. Also got married and had three kids in that time frame too. Now, don’t kids just have a way of asking the most obvious questions — “mommy, why do you have to go to work?”. Innocent enough question, and it propelled me to make some big changes!

So now that I’ve been with EoT for a year, I’m reflecting on my experience (which, by the way, was something I never remember doing at any of my other jobs).

EoT has changed my life. I no longer think of my “work” or my “job” as this thing I have to do to earn a salary. It has connected me back to the reasons why I went into Engineering. It has taught me more in one year than I leaned in close to 15 years working “in industry”. I am grateful everyday for the opportunity to be a part of EoT. I’m struggling to put into words the experience that working at EoT has created for me, but I feel lucky to be a part of the team.

Here are some of the highlights from my year at EoT:

September 2016 — EIR orientation session with about 60 volunteers and teachers passionate about Engineering and STEM.

October 2016 — attended my first Engineering Change Lab in Ottawa — wow! So many big ideas and amazing people.

November 2016 — into the thick of National Engineering Month applications now. Seeing great ideas on how to promote Engineering to youth and the general public from passionate individuals across the province.

January 2017 — attend the EWB national conference in Calgary. Sick with the stomach flu, but managed to pull off two fantastic workshops and meet some exceptional people.

March 2017 — watched the celebrations unfold for NEM 2017! From attending the kick off at a Raptors game, to seeing the amazing spirit brought to the campaign by colleges across to province, to the grand finale lighting the CN tower purple.

Not to mention working with an amazing team: Erica Lee-Garcia, Jonathan Lazo, Vanessa Raponi, and Skylar Broeren, and connecting with a network of like-minded people.

Thank-you!

If you are interested in developing your “Engineering Story”, please contact us at info@engineersoftomorrow.ca, check out our recent webinar on the topic and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

Written by Rebecca White, B. Sc.

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