Engineered Education

I was always good at math, so during a high school field trip to Shasta College, I took an aptitude test and met with a counselor, who said, “You should be an engineer.” Being an 18-year-old kid, I said, “Okay.”

My first semester was loaded with engineering classes, and I’m not sure how I passed. The professors were top-notch, and I remember most of them: Dr. Gash, Dr. McMurdo, Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Bush, Dr. Hugo, and Mr. Poland. They were great instructors, but they really worked us hard. Dr. Gash was by far the most demanding instructor I had in my entire college career, but if not for him, I don’t think I would have learned how to dig in and find the answers. In fact, his class was the first one I’d flunked in my entire life!! But he taught me how to study and how to work toward a solution.

Originally, I wanted to be a chemical engineer. I loved chemistry, and Dr. Hugo was your quintessential chemistry teacher. He would ask me why I wanted to be a chemical engineer. He would listen, and then he would say, “You don’t want to do that.” So it was really his advice that pushed me into the civil engineering world, and I am so thankful for him sharing that with me.

I learned so much about how to be a student at Shasta College, including the opportunity to be challenged and to be tested, literally and figuratively. In fact, when I went to Chico State, I felt like it was easier than Shasta College for me.

I think one of the things that happens to our local youth is that they think they have to leave to get a great education, and that simply isn’t true. Shasta College and Chico State are great programs and great educational institutions, and you save a lot of money by staying local, too. But you can really set yourself up to go wherever you want by starting at Shasta College. It’s a great, great college. And it was a great launching pad for me!