Year by Year Updates: Career, Educational and Personal

After graduating in December 2014, life was all of a sudden not a series of assignments, midterms, finals and breaks anymore. Here is a recap of 2015 and 2016.

2015

My first year as a full-time civil engineer in the Fort Worth, Texas industry. It felt as though I spent A LOT of time learning how to use Civil 3D, learning how to write effective plan notes, and learning about contract documents. My first experience of building a project design from top to bottom, from feasibility, research to city review, to pre-construction meeting was a parks rehabilitation project. Not at all what I expected when I set out to become a civil engineer but an incredible starting point. Why? Because I learned that even the tedious little details require discipline and a commitment to excellence. The other major component of my experience this year, and it should not be understated because it was the foundation for the majority of the work I do today, is flood studies. I spent a great deal of my work year learning the ins and outs of HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS and producing reports of inundation studies. Overall, this year was the foundation of my experience in analyis, design, planning and deadlines. 

2016 

I decided to take a different route with my career and work for a small engineering company where I could get more project management experience. After receiving an offer from Barron, Stark and Swift Consulting Engineers, I met with the owner Chuck Stark and a hydrology engineer who would be training me if I took the offer. The only deterring detail was that the job was in Benbrook, Texas which was significantly far from my home. Despite the distance, I decided it was a great opportunity to learn about management first hand. I have been working at Barron-Stark since February 2016 until the present date. This first year I was able to learn about grading on commercial warehouse sites, assisted living sites, and medical office sites. This experience was very different from my previous project experiences which was more city parks and a bit of residential lot projects.

Silver Lining Reflection, 4 years later

A little under 4 years ago, I was scrolling through my emails and stumbled upon an opportunity of a life time. It was the IRES Summer Internship program directed by Dr. Yazdani at UT Arlington. At that time in my life, I was struggling to stay focused on the end goal of graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering at the end of 2014. It was a time of sorrow as my family was going through the unexpected loss of one of our own. The email that was soliciting applications to travel to Spain that summer as an intern was a silver lining that day. I quickly shared the opportunity with my sister and she encouraged me to apply. I have to admit I was plagued with negative thoughts that made me feel that I had very little chances of being selected as a participant. I felt I did not have the right experience level or that I was not the adequate candidate. However, there must have been a little glimmer of hope that pushed me to submit the application regardless.
A few weeks later I received the invitation to interview with Dr. Yazdani and that's when it all became like a very real possibility.
Fast forward to July 4, 2014 and my parents were dropping me off at the airport to set out to Valencia, Spain with the other UT Arlington participants Kavitha and Kelsey.
The next six weeks, as you can read about in my previous blog posts, were an experience I will never forget.  From learning about Spanish infrastructure and experimenting with cutting edge repair technology, to meeting mentors like Jose Vicente and Ana that shared a piece of their daily life with us, to the beaches, the food, the beautiful cities, it was all a rich and beautiful learning experience.
Upon my return to the US I felt a new energy. It was a feeling of appreciation for my home, my country and the opportunity that I had been given. It was also a resolve to move forward toward my goals and live a life I would be proud to live. As well as the new hope to one day continue traveling the world. That snippet of time in Valencia inspired me to continue taking advantage of opportunities no matter how unlikely they may seem. In addition, it sparked a desire to travel the world and keep an open mind to the different ideas people have as they engineer their cities and thus, the life around them.

After School Fun! (Written in 2015)

It has been over a year since I was last in Valencia, Spain with the IRES group and our mentors. Life seems to have taken a complete turn since then.
Once I got back to the metroplex, summer seemed to end very abruptly and school picked up with just as much speed. It was my last semester before graduation and the workload was substantial. However, with graduation being the light at the end of the tunnel, time flew by! The exception being a few hours leading up to the many final exams, presentations, and project deadlines that seemed to drag on in a tortuous state of lack of sleep and sometimes lack of preparation. But finally, Graduation!

Outcomes

Outcomes

First, I have learned how to cook a dish called “Patatas a lo Pobre”. During our first weekend in Spain, as I have already mentioned in previous blogs, Ana Barella taught Kavitha, Kelsey, and I a recipe called Patatas a lo Pobre. Ana explained that the dish translates to Poor Style Potatoes. The story behind the dish’s name is that in olden times, poor people could not afford anything other than potatoes. (Surprisingly, this is a story I have heard from my dad who grew up farming potatoes as well. This was a crazy similarity in cultural background). The first step in making this delicious recipe was the grocery shopping. Grocery shopping was much like it is in the U.S. except a few minor changes, like how the little machines that weigh your fruits print out a bar code on the spot. After picking out potatoes, garlic, and olive oil we found the deli counter.  Once at the deli counter, Ana had to talk us into ordering half a pound of specialty ham, or Jamon Serrano. Kelsey and I, both trying to ease our way into eating meat, were not too thrilled at the idea. In the end, we gave in to the local connoisseur! We ended up with a yummy twist to the original recipe with ham and eggs on top and it was amazing.

We also learned that big social dinners are a norm in Spain. Above is a photo of our group sharing a pot-luck dinner before leaving Spain.

   
 Next thing I learned while I was in Spain was how to use public transportation maps. It seems as though they would be user friendly since they are usually color coded and numerically organized. However, since I had no point of reference, never having lived in Valencia before, it was quite puzzling at some moments. Especially during those moments when I had exactly 30 seconds to get on the next train before it took off for its last journey. Those puzzling moments always happened at the most inopportune times. But after learning how to download maps offline and plan my trips ahead of time, I was able to master the skill of not being a clueless tourist!

            One more new lesson I learned while in Spain was fully technical. I learned how to analyze frequencies using the program MatLab. I had used this program before in other coursework but had never really mastered it. While I conducted my project at AIDICO, MatLab seemed to be an essential part of working there. In fact my mentor Jose Vi was shocked that I did not already have MatLab downloaded on my personal computer. He gave me a quick tutorial of how to find the FFT’s using a series of keyed in equations. The tutorial was seriously quick, so quick I was not able to catch anything that was going on. Jose Vi’s time was very limited during our stay, he was handling many jobs at once, so he could not stay and talk me through the process of analyzing the rest of the frequencies. However, I learned that all of the equations typed in are stored in the Command History. After printing that day’s entire command history, highlighting the important commands, and typing in what seemed to be gibberish, I came up with a semi-understandable report of my analysis. After showing it to my mentor, he said it made sense, so I suppose I am able to use MatLab now.

 Above is a photo taken by Toul in the NDT lab during a brief Mat-Lab tutorial from Jose Vi.

         

 My prior educational background is rich with works under pressure. The deadlines that always seemed to creep up on me for various reasons greatly prepared me for the real world. Deadlines in the real world consist less of asking for extensions (which to my defense I have never done) and more about working through lunch breaks, dinner breaks, sleep breaks or even sanity breaks and just getting the work done no matter what it takes. My prior educational background also gave me a little background on issues of civil infrastructure and the need to find effective ways of addressing them. Flooding, undrinkable water, earthquakes, and transportation are all real world issues that American engineers try to solve. However, I was not prepared enough to view those issues from a Spanish engineer’s perspective. Obviously I could never be unless I had completed an education and some experience in Spain. The optimism that my prior educational background instilled in me helped me keep a positive outlook to the project no matter what circumstances. Although I did not know absolutely anything about non-destructive testing, I knew that I could learn about it as soon as I could and then pass on the knowledge to other people. That was the most interesting experience.

            Understanding what was expected of me in such an unfamiliar environment was definitely a challenge. But with some perseverance from both sides, my mentor and I were able to understand each other. The evidence was in my final presentation of the IRES project. After giving the presentation, I realized I had learned much more than I ever expected, and that felt like a challenge overcome. 

Below is a photo taken of me on August 1st, right before the IRES Final Presentation at AIDICO. Although I was nervous in the beginning, I quickly realized I had been more than prepared for the presentation.

Social ID

When it comes to my preconceptions about living, working, or visiting Europe, I expected the unexpected. Better yet, my expectations were a wide range of Cinema glamorized miscoceptions. In reality, I had no point of comparison about traveling outside the Americas. The times I had traveled outside of the USA, the neighboring countries have treated me with immense hospitality, always excited to greet a foreigner. I guess in a way I expected the world to react that way in general. To my surprise, that is not always the case!
En el trabajo...

Even if I tried I wouldn't be able to explain what I expected from social behaviors but I can explain what I did not expect. I did not expect for "culture shock" to be a real thing. 

I am thankful that I was allowed to be immersed more or less in the way of life, or else my experience would be somewhat superficial. The primary source of immersment came from working for a company based in Spain and working according to their schedule. The shortened work schedule from our American 8-9 hours was a shorter version from 8am to 3pm. Also, two eating breaks are allowed, breakfasts and snack. Right away we felt the difference in work pace. Along with that was the method of communication. I was expecting direct supervision and training, but that was also different in a sense. It may be due to the different instruction methods of the professors themselves, but I would argue that even then, a difference in communication habits hindered my work flow. The usual dynamic between the student and the boss is a straightforward job assignment, some clarification questions, steady work and then a final product. That changed in Valencia. Instead of the usual clarification questions, I hesitated to ask. This was because I thought the issue was language barrier and I was willing to google every last word or phrase. Instead, I found myself with even more questions after translating.  

Thankfully, our mentor was able to overlook the miscommunications and guide us to an understanding. Thus, I learned a lot from Jose Vicente Fuente during our stay at AIDICO. The final day of presentations, he congratulated us and told us he was extremely proud of our learning process. Below is a picture of us after our final presentation standing next to the IRES poster with which we were able to convey some of the work we did...

Above: Mentor Jose Vicente Fuente and I next to IRES poster before presentation.

Con la familia...

We are also very blessed to have a program coordinator who tended to every need, Ana Barella. Ana is a staff member at AIDICO who was actively involved in accommodating us in Valencia. Not only is she a hard-worker, she's a mom, a daughter, and a friend. Hanging out with Ana allowed us to learn a little bit about the way of life as a woman in Valencia, Spain. I learned that Ana grew up in a Valencian family who works diligently and also dedicates much of their life to cultivating family traditions. Lunch and dinners are usually spent together with Ana's sons, Hugo and Jorge. In the summer this includes the "yaya y yayo", or as we call them in the US, Grama and Grampa.This is because the family owns a "campo" home on the outskirts of the surrounding countryside where they can spend their summers swimming, resting, and "taking the sun" as they say. The summer home allows for time to share experiences with eachother. Despite expecting and finding many differences, the similarities in family dynamics are extremely sweet. The bickering between Yayo and Yaya, between Yayo and Jorge, and even Ana contributing as a good mom would, is a bickering common to a close-knit family in any country!

Above: Ana's family on a Sunday evening dinner having Paella 

when we were given the privilege of accompanying them.

Although many interactions were very different from what "I thought it would be like", many interactions were the same. Family time is clearly a very important aspect of life in Spain, similar to the culture I come from. The interactions between siblings and parents reflect what I've been taught as a part of my cultural attitude. One day when we were out and about with Ana, I asked her why she seemed aloof, she answered that she missed her children more than she thought she would. I could immediately relate to that feeling. Being away from my family for more than a month has been a trying situation since I have been close to them my entire life. Family bonding is a main similarity in cultural attitudes.

Y demas!

Besides spending time at work and with Ana, we were pretty much on our own to discover Valencia and its habitants. I quickly learned that the principle "The customer is always right." is a cultural attitude of the United States and not necessarily of the entire world. Although I had not given much thought to it, I assumed that as a native Spanish speaker and clueless tourist I would be given the benefit of the doubt and some extra help during daily activities. That assumption was quickly dissolved after the first work day in Valencia. Asking simple questions is not so simple of an activity to me in Valencia. The difference in cultures arises everywhere. First of all, in the tone of voice. I wasn't as aware of the possibilities until we were in a bakery and the woman selling us bread asked my roommate why she was so dark? In the United States, the diversity that surrounds us makes that question completely out of place. But I realized that it was the woman's way of asking my roommate what ethnicity she came from. I am still unsure whether this is equally as disrespectful in Valencia, or if the woman was simply not aware of other cultures. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt since that is something I have been hoping people give me as I am sure my ways of asking questions may or may not sound rude depending on their perception. Based on these and other experiences, I have decided to listen before I speak and not jump to conclusions. I think this skill will serve me in future visits to different cultures. So as far as I am concerned, this learning experience has been one of the most enriching of all my life. I can't wait to continue having a young heart ready to learn the unknown and unexpected!

Above: Public entertainment at the Arc de Triumph in Barcelona where a toddler runs into the bubbles uncertain of the nature of the afore mentioned and screams with joy for this unprecedented encounter.

International Experience

The Global Experience
When I first applied to the Spain IRES program, I was not aware of all the cultural and economic differences that working as a Civil Engineer student in Spain would bring to my plate. Shortly after meeting the mentors at AIDICO, I learned that the economic health of Spain has been deteriorating in the last decade. For this reason, infrastructure construction is coming to a sudden halt. The unfortunate economic situation affects the career of civil engineers tremendously. The tense situation of the country's construction sector is one of the biggest challenges a civil engineer can face. If there is no money to fund new projects, then there are no jobs. The professional engineers at AIDICO have chosen to see this as a new challenge to overcome. Their mentality is that because there is a lack of funds, civil engineers have the duty to discover ways to reinforce the infrastructure that already exist to reduce costs in the long run. Their ability to look beyond their difficult circumstances inspires me! I have learned that as a civil engineer it is important to be conscious of the availability of resources at all times, whether it be human resources or materials. Said skill comes in handy in day to day life. We are engineers of our own life and for that reason I think it is important to learn to be respectful of surrounding circumstances and never wasteful. Sustainability and effectiveness are characteristics a city should be built with. It is important to keep in mind that not all seasons will be as fruitful as the ones before. Thus, this eye-opening experience is not something I would have been exposed to in the United States since the construction market is booming. Engineers should have the skill of speculation in the following sense: "A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs." -Bernard Baruch. 

Picture above was taken by me in a subdivision of Valencia where the buildings are built adjacently to avoid rapid overcrowding and diminish the need for driving everywhere, a great example of forward-thinking and sustainability.


The grass isn´t always greener on this side...

Aside from wisdom, certain technical skills I've gained from being at AIDICO are related directly with math engineering. For example, Matlab was a software I never completely learned to use in school. But my mentor at AIDICO uses it all the time, so I had to catch up... quickly! After some hours of frustration, I was well on my way to analyzing the frequencies we obtained with a radar system called IBIS. The frequencies we obtained are a method of non-destructive testing for structures to measure the displacement and soundness of a structure exposed to the seismic conditions of its surroundings, traffic and wind. The reason that AIDICO uses non-destructive testing to analyze structures is to provide solutions to the deterioration of ancient infrastructure and buildings. By working in Spain at AIDICO, my common sense has expanded. I have learned that since Spain is hundreds of years older than the United States, there are dilemmas involving the age of infrastructure. As a relatively new country, American civil engineers have not had to face these dilemmas just yet. The insight will be an asset to my education because Spain's wisdom has been passed down to me and I will be able to trace back to the innovations I've learned here. I will be able to address possible future outcomes of the construction decisions we are making today as a country. Assessing the stability of ancient structures is a way to learn from other's experiences to improve the design of our cities in the United States. The non-destructive testing department at AIDICO continues to work on very interesting projects. One of them is the preservation of historical industrial chimneys around Spain. Last week I was excited to be a part of one of these radar tests of great historical importance in Alicante, Spain. AIDICO was collaborating with international universities to document the quality of the chimney. We spent a whole day running tests on site and meeting professors from all over the Valencia area, Barcelona, and Italy.

Picture taken by a drone camera that the University of Alicante professors brought to serve as a remote tester... but it also served as a panoramic professional photographer!

Mind Like a Parachute

After the IRES experience, I will be coming back to the states with only 4 months left until graduation. Consequently, searching for job opportunities will be the next order of business in my life. The cultural knowledge I have acquired in Spain at AIDICO will allow me to be more open-minded on the job search. Instead of narrowing my options to only one field of study, I have realized that having a broad set of skills will make me a more valuable part of any company or field. When the economy shifts in the United States, I will feel more confident knowing that change is a part of living. Nothing lasts forever; including the booming construction market that exists today in the United States. I am extremely excited to graduate and continue learning from life. Being open to different ways of life will make transitions easier to deal with. Furthermore, the ability to transition from one career to another, depending on the demand of the situation, will make my life much more enjoyable than confining myself to one specific field of study. I am excited for a future of open minded decisions! 

(Left) First open minded decision: buying a pair of printed bottoms (popular in Europe) and wearing them to Sunday Mass in Barcelona! My pants are symbolic of a way to integrate traditional values with modern ideas! (Picture on the right shows a sign outside the cathedral with covered dress requirements.)

La Madre Patria!

"Que tal?" This phrase is Spanish for our equivalent Texas greeting of "How´s it going?" This is the first expression I came across in Valencia, España that I was not entirely sure how to respond to. My first language as a child was Spanish. I know what you must be thinking... How is it that you were unsure of a response to something as simple as a greeting?! I know because that is EXACTLY what I was thinking to myself when I found the expression so puzzling. You see, I come from a Mexican American household where my mother required my siblings and I to speak Spanish to her because she knew that being bilingual is an asset. I thank her for doing so because after living in an English speaking country for so long it would have been easy to forget Spanish. 

Language & Communication.

The Spanish of Mexico is different in pronunciation, tone, tempo, sometimes even in definition! Therefore, being in Spain has been a culture shock even to the way I speak Spanish. The first order of business of our stay in Valencia is a perfect example. Upon arrival, Dr. Yazdani (our program coordinator) wanted to pre-purchase public transportation tickets so that we would not have to pay out of pocket during our stay. We walked to the nearest metro station, found the station attendant behind a glass window counter and I asked "Puedo comprar boletos para el Tram aqui?" Key word being "boletos" which in Mexico is "tickets". The attendant looked at me puzzled and asked "Quieres decir billetes?". Asking me if I meant to say "billetes". (See Below for a visual of the "famosisimos billetes!").

False friend ALERT. Billetes in Mexico means "money bills", so I was just as confused as they were. After some perseverance, I was able to get my point across. My confidence was a little shot because of the first attempt, but with some help from my roommates and coordinator, they reminded me I was still a step ahead and should keep trying.  

Sights.

On the very first day of our arrival, Ana Barella, a very friendly AIDICO staff member, drove us to our flats. It was a drive across the city of Valencia and to our flat in Benimaclet. My eyes were in awe of the city. My heart was ready to beat out of my heart and I could not stop smiling. Simply driving through the breath-taking streets, catching fast glimpses of so many types of architecture was a dream come true. Valencia is rich in natural scenery. The country side is vibrant with green life, romantic homes, and sprouting agriculture all layed out on gentle hills of green. Below is a photo of the sight looking out from Ana's family's country home on a Sunday evening:

People & Way of Life.
For the first week of my stay in Valencia, my favorite thing to do was people watch. Observing them made me realize that the pace of life here is no faster and no slower than back home, it is simply a different rhythm. The rhythm of their words and mannerisms is certainly different.
The first week, trying to fall asleep after some jetlag, the excitement, and a new bed was simply not happening. Add to that, the hustle and bustle of Benimaclet that lasts from 11 pm to anywhere between 3 am and 5 am. Maybe it is due to their late dinner hours, but the night life is an essential part of the city.... Everyday. There are no such thing as weekends! Something I've noticed about the people of Valencia is the fluidity in their conversation. Conversation is a culture here. Strangers don't seem like strangers since everyone says "Hola!". People don't go to dinner for the eating, they go for the talking. The restaurants, called "Bars", here are not at all like the bars in Dallas, Texas. The customers order drinks and then engage in conversation for hours. One time last week, Kavitha and I walked to a cute little cafe called "La Villa es Bella" and ordered some dessert. There were 5 large families already eating and talking when we got there. We sat and talked for over an hour since we had some down time. Between our arrival and until the time we left the same people had not finished their dinner and were engaged in even deeper conversation. It was interesting to continue to see that it is a norm here in Valencia! The families seem to be closer in distance and that gives the city a familiar environment wherever you walk. Picture below shows the afternoon walk Kavitha and I loved, filled with cute neighborhoods and a beautiful church:

My favorite part of the culture here in Valencia is how connected people are to each other. It is a beautiful sight to see that local shops are essential to daily life. Getting from one place to another, even when simply walking, consists of several interactions along the way. And although customer service has the lower rating, it is at least more personal (even when they are snapping at you for being a silly foreigner, haha!). And the favorite of favorites: there is not a need to drive at all to live! The beach is only a walk away. Grocery shopping is around the corner. And public transportation reaches all corners of the city. That is the such a big difference from living in the city of Dallas, Texas! The picture below I also took last week, a perfect visual of the house to vehicle ratio! :)