Picture Update 1

I am sure it's hard to understand some of the things I've talked about without seeing them in person. Hopefully, these pictures will help :) This is also my last short update before heading to the village tomorrow.

We went out in Kumba last night and I met and talked with my first fellow white man. His name is Austin and he is working for a local human rights agency. He is a grad student at Pitt majoring in international development. His focus this summer is waste management in villages and education of village councils on conflict resolution. I find it funny that I'm thousands of miles away from home but the bars here play almost the same music. When I said this, Julius asked the waitress to play some P Square for me. P Square is a Rap/R&B duo from Nigeria. They are insanely popular here in Africa. I'm very suprised their music hasn't made it to the US yet.

This morning we woke up and went to mass at St. Anthony's. It was Pentacost Sunday, so the place was packed (and extremely hot/sweaty). Since I'm not Catholic, I just played a game of follow the leader to understand when to stand, sit, kneel, and pray. In addition to not knowing the motions, the mass was completely in Pidgin. So needless to say, I probably didn't get much from the experience spiritually. Brian, a lay Marianist noted some small differences between this mass and ones in the US. Today's mass was much much much longer. It lasted almost 2 and a half hours. In addition, it seemed much livelier than masses I've been to in the US. Singing and dancing are huge parts of culture and religion over here.

The tanks are almost completed.

Mr. Elias's house in Kumba (where we are staying when in town).

Dancers in the village.

Playing cheque with the other kids in Elias's house.

Eating dinner in Boa Bakundu.

One of many random Obama signs/banners and posters.

An okada on his motorcycle.

The market before it got busy.

Mark, Clinton, Brandon, and I after church.

The village chief and all the honored guests.

De White Stuff

Two blog posts in one day! How exciting J Friday was the big day. It was time for us to go visit the village of Boa Bakundu. We were supposed to leave the Amin’s house at 9:00 AM sharp to arrive at the village by 9:30. However, we didn’t leave until sometime after 10. (I guess this is the concept of African time)

This trip was my first ride with Elvis. Elvis is a taxi driver. His steed of choice is a late 80s or early 90s 2 door Toyota Camry. (Toyota produced a long-lasting and rugged Camry, as any visitor to Cameroon will attest) The car doesn’t have inside door panels and the windows barely rolled up. The backseat was torn and I am pretty sure it wouldn’t pass inspection in the US. It was a bumpy ride on what I can only describe as the worst road on which I have ever ridden. Surprisingly, it is one of the major roads out of Kumba. From now on I will refer to it as the Minefield of Car-Swallowing Potholes Road, or MCSPR for short.

Then, I encountered the small cowpath that led to the village itself. It was even worse as we bounced and plowed toward our destination. As we neared the village, we saw village ocada, or motorcycle riders, riding toward us. The village had sent them to search for us, assuming we had gotten lost along the way. These ocada formed the front of our “parade” into the village. A group of school students led us by song and dance toward the chief’s house. We felt like some kind of celebrities in the back of that beat up car.

The reception began with introductions. First, the MC introduced the village chief, council members, water committee representatives, and respected elders. Then, James introduced the three of us from Dayton University (as the villagers called it). Mr. Benjamin explained how we came about choosing the Boa Bakundu project. Villagers surrounded the whole porch of the chief’s house. There was no breeze to be felt at all. After the introductions, the same singing group returned to the porch where we were seated. They sang a song which I can only guess was called “Welcome to Boa Bakundu.” In Cameroon, it is customary to give a dancer or singer a small donation to let them know that you appreciate them. During the songs, villagers would place money at the feet or on the forehead of the group leader. I was chosen to represent the ETHOS group. So I danced my way up to the group leader (to much laughter from the surrounding mob of villagers) and placed some Central African Francs on his head.

Our next stop was the site of the water storage tanks. We piled into the back of Elvis’s car once again and made our way up an even worse road to the tank site. The path passed directly through the two largest trees I have ever seen. Each tree was at least 6 feet in diameter. I can’t imagine how long it would have taken to cut the road through them. The tanks are nearing completion. The last items to be finished are plastering the walls and adding a roof. The village will use two tanks to increase capacity (the village somehow suddenly grew from 4500 to 7000 villagers??) and allow for one tank to be in use during periodic cleanings. We did not have the chance to see the catchment because it is a short trek away. On our way back down to the village, Elvis’s car miraculously carried 12 people in and on top of it. No car should be able to do that.

Next stop was our new digs in Boa Bakundu. When I say new, I mean the last of the concrete was still drying when we visited. Our place has 3 separate lockable bedrooms: 1 for Brian and Mark, 1 for Julius (He requested me as a roommate. We already have a secret handshake that looks eerily similar to the Chris Wright/Charles Little Flight Club handshake ;)), and the final one reserved for Karine who will be the house mom for ETHOS again this year. The living quarters also has a large common area for eating, conversing, and holding meetings.

We held the first working session for the project in the big common room. The committee and various community leaders were there to discuss the schedule of the project. There were some heated words, but the consensus became clear. Benjamin, Mark, Brian, and I will survey the proposed route on Monday. On Tuesday, one quarter from the village will begin digging the trench while we run a string to mark its location. On Wednesday, all quarters will begin digging in full force. The village leaders agreed that all digging will be finished within two weeks.

After the work session finished up, we headed back to the chief’s house for a meal and to say our goodbyes. The meal was good other than the meat (which on second thought may have been all fat) which was very chewy. I had another “33 Export” (quickly becoming my beer of choice here). At the meal, both James and the chief spoke about how the villagers must work very hard to accomplish this goal. I also got my first taste of the famed “white stuff,” or palm wine. It is even better than Mark made it out to be. I sipped down my first cup with ease.

The finale of the day was a traditional African dance complete with costumes. One person wore burlap sacks from head to toe (how they didn’t die from the heat, I’ll never know), and two others wore palm leaf skirts and hats. All of them had their faces covered. We danced with them from the porch to the waiting vehicles and were on our way. Everyone waved at us, but only after a white man waved at them first. I guess we are still pretty scary, especially to the little children.

The ride home was anything but ordinary. It began raining soon after we hit the main road. The clay road turned into a soupy mess. Rain leaked all over us through Elvis’s car. The car also stalled a few times before Elvis was forced to stop and get some oil. Then, we managed to get stuck climbing a hill in the mud. Eventually, we made it over the hill only to encounter our final obstacle, the police.

The police stopped us at a checkpoint very close to Kumba. The most likely reason for stopping us was to get a bribe from the “rich” whites in the car. The police said they stopped us because they thought Benjamin was snapping pictures of them. The argument got very heated. It was a little bit scary. But I felt safe because we had James, Julius, and Derrick on our side. Eventually we were allowed to pass. I take it for granted passing easy from place to place in the US. When you are a white in Cameroon, you don’t go on any trip without a native and your passport handy.
Last evening was very relaxing. It rained most of the night so we chose not to go out to experience Kumba’s nightlife. We played cards yet again. However, this time we played a team game called signs. The object of the game is to let your partner know when you have 4 of a kind via a physical or verbal sign. It was very fun. I also introduced Clinton and Brandon to American football. I tried to teach them some more about it this afternoon with the football I brought with me. However, it ended up turning into a modified form of rugby. I guess the NFL should start slow if they ever want to go into Africa.

Today we traveled to the market to buy some supplies to take to the village on Monday. These supplies included: toilet paper, fruit drink mix, 2 shovels, 2 pickaxes, string, and bed sheets (for future reference: buy spray paint in Duoala, there is none in all of Kumba). The market was very crowded and had almost everything you could want (except spray paint). Everyone in Cameroon bargains. No price is set in stone and people expect you to bargain with them.

Tonight I hope to enjoy more of Kumba in a different setting. We will probably go to a few of the many bars and possibly hit up one of the two nightclubs in town. Sunday will be a day of preparation and relaxation. We leave early Monday morning for the village. We plan to stay there all week and through next weekend. This may be my last post for quite some time. I hope you all enjoy reading about my experiences in Cameroon thus far. (Thanks for all the wonderful comments :))

Calm before the storm

Hello once again from wonderful, warm, and wet Cameroon. A lot has happened the last few days, so I’ve split today’s blog entry into two parts so you can read them on different days. (It might be a week or so until I am able to blog again).

On Thursday, we met with Mr. Benjamin to discuss the project in general. On our way there, Mark saw another friendly face. Kumba reminds me of UD because you can meet someone new everyday but you still see friendly faces wherever you go. Mr. Benjamin believes our section of the project may only take a few weeks. As I said before, this may allow us the chance to do more phases of the same project or even research new projects for next year. Ordering pipe will take 5 to 7 days and hopefully that will coincide with completion of the tanks and finishing the trench.

We also made a stop at the local hardware store owned by Mr. Josephat. Mr. Josephat is our go-to-guy for pipes, fittings, tools and any other construction materials we may need. He has worked with ETHOS in the past and will provide us with good materials at fair prices. Corruption is very common in Cameroon. Throughout the country I have witnessed countless half-finished buildings and projects. So, we are fortunate to have a supplier we can trust. Then, we walked back to the house for a short rest.

Brian and Mark both needed haircuts. So, we headed down to Spirit’s barber “shop” at the end of Soba Street (the street where we live). His shop was an 8’ x 8’ room with two couches and one barber’s chair. The barber’s chair was made out of an old car seat and other reused parts. After Mark got his hair cut, he met up with our friend Julius to go pick up a phone that we can use over here.

Spirit began to cut Brian’s hair as I talked to another man in the shop, Leonel. Leonel was originally from Duoala and moved to Kumba as a child. However, he is just in Kumba on summer vacation as he studies hospitality management in Bangkok, Thailand. Like most Cameroonians, Leonel is very interested in the United States and is up on all the latest news about our government. Everyone in Cameroon feels that Obama’s election to the Presidency was a victory for them as well. Leonel said that many people stayed up all night watching the results on television. By the time the election was final, it would have been at least 4 or 5 in the morning here. People celebrated in the streets much like after a victory for the national soccer team. Posters and calendars of Obama hang in many businesses, including Josephat’s hardware store and Spirit’s shop.

Anyways, back to the hair cutting story. As I talked with Leonel, Brian apparently became quite hot. (Spirit had a large towel around his neck to catch the hair) At some point Brian passed out and when I looked up, his head was back over the chair. It scared Spirit, Leonel, I half to death. Spirit had his assistant run and get Brian a bottle of water while Brian slowly came to. After Brian calmed down, Spirit anointed both Brian and I with holy olive oil and made us lick it off our hand. He said he sensed we were both holy men and invited us to his church (needless to say, I don’t think I will be attending) So after our wonderful trip to the barber shop, I walked back with a face dripping in olive oil combined with Brian’s hair clippings. Yum.

We had dinner with Pa and learned that he has a farm a short distance away. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to visit it when we are in town some weekend. After dinner, we played cards with the other young people in the compound. The kids included Clinton (age 12), Brandon (age 10), and Gloria (age 17). All of them are very fun. However, they are ruthless when it comes to playing card games. They introduced us to a fun game called “Cheque.” The game is played very similarly to UNO only you must use a deck of playing cards with four jokers. This was the calm before the storm of craziness the next day would bring.

My new place in Kumba

Here I am again. This time typing with an American keyboard :) So after touching down in the airport I walked off the plane. Cameroon greeted me with temperatures and humidity in the 80s. It also had the pungent combination of body odor and sweat. We walked down to pick up our bags and Mark reminded us not to let anyone take or carry our bags. After getting my first passport stamp, I walked into the baggage claim area. It felt like I was in a cage fight. There was an elevated area around the room where people were shouting to friends and relatives. It was crowded and everyone was bumping each other trying to get their bags from the conveyors. 1 fight even broke out while we were there.

We found our bags and repeatedly refused offers for others to carry them. But then, Mark allowed some guy to push our cart. Brian and I passed right by customs as they examined one of Mark's bags. Outside the airport it was even greater chaos with hundreds of people yelling and clamoring for our bags. Finally, Mark spotted James. James is our logistics and safety coordinator while in Cameroon. He and Derick (another safety guy only a few years older than us) helped carry our bags to a waiting taxi. At the same time, we were being followed by kids begging for coins and asking to help with our bags. When we reached the taxi, we were surrounded by people. James told us to get in the car and he told the beggars to leave. We were quickly whisked away to our hotel for the night.

The next day, we travelled to Kumba in a van through pouring rain. It took us about 4 hours to get here. We had a wonderful meal at the Amin's house. It included: fish, chicken, rice, greens, fruit salad, and of course beer. It was delicious. At the meal we met David, the head of the water committee in the village, and Benjamin, the local rural engineer. The plans for the next couple of days were laid out at this meeting and then we headed to Ma and Pa's house.
Pa and Ma are Mr. and Mrs. Elias. They have a gorgeous, enormous compound/house that overlooks much of Kumba. All 3 of us have our own bedrooms and will stay here when we are not living in the village. We chatted late into the afternoon and evening with Pa and James about themselves and Cameroon. There was still no power at this point as it had been turned off earlier in the day for some unknown reason. The problem was that the big game between Manchester United and Barcelona FC for the UEFA Championship was last night. One of Cameroon's national soccer heroes plays for Barcelona.

Luckily the power came on in time and we watched the game at the house. It was very exciting as Barcelona won 2-0 and the Cameroonian scored the first goal. The town's reaction gave me chills as I could hear them erupt in excitement. The cheers were so loud it felt as if the game was being played in town. Parties continued on late into the night and morning.

Today we met with Mr. Benjamin to discuss the project. He believes we can finish it rather quickly. If we finish early we will have the opportunity to do another phase for this village or even research other possible locations for ETHOS students next year.

That is all for today. I wish I could write more. Perhaps I will go day by day after I return to the states. My journal is filling up quickly and there are so many other amazing stories to tell already.

We travel to the village tomorrow for a reception and to meet with villagers. Saturday and Sunday will be spent in Kumba. Monday we will start our real work in the village. I am so glad I came. Cameroon is wonderful. I hope all is well with you :)

Staying in Douala for the night

Hello all. made it here safe and sound. flights went well. douala airport was an experience i will never forget. hopefully i will write more about it tommorow on the blog. we are heading to kumba tommorow morning. hot and humid weather. off to eat a late dinner. :) some keyboard buttons are in different places, so be patient the rest of the summer

More about Boa Bakundu and our project

I will now go into greater detail regarding preparation for the Boa Bakundu project and the scope of our work this summer. Mark Ewalt, Brian Baker, and I were enrolled in EGR 330 – Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology. EGR 330 is a course that helps prepare students for ETHOS immersions. The class focuses on topics such as travel safety, vaccinations, cultural awareness, and researching appropriate technologies (among other topics). Students must complete a full technical report upon return from their placement to receive a grade for the class. I am glad UD offers this class with the ETHOS program. The advisors reminded me about upcoming requirements for things like vaccinations or visa applications. We also used this time to fundraise for our trip. In total, we managed to exceed our goal of $20,000 through grants, family, friends, and corporate contributions. I want to say thank you to all of the people who donated so that we can make a difference in the lives of the villagers of Boa Bakundu. This money will fund our travel expenses and purchase construction materials. EGR 330 also taught us how to get the most of immersion experience. The motto on the back of our ETHOS t-shirts sums it up best: “Change the world, let the world change you.”

We wouldn’t be able to start our journey without one of our advisors, Dr. Julius Amin. He provided additional assistance and coordination for our trip. Dr. Amin lived in Cameroon before moving to the United States. Dr. Amin’s contacts in country were invaluable to us. Moreover, Dr. Amin will lead an immersion group on a tour of Cameroon during the same time period. The village we will be living and working in is Boa Bakundu in the Meme Division of the Southwest Province of Cameroon. We will travel to the nearby city of Kumba as necessary. ETHOS has travelled to Kumba the last few years and has established great contacts within the city. Some of these connections include a hardware store, plumbers, and many friends willing to provide assistance.

In addition to performing research and talking with advisors at UD, we have been in contact with Mr. Feh Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin is a Rural Engineer for Community Development in Kumba. ETHOS has worked with Mr. Benjamin on projects in the past, including last summer’s water project in Barombi. Mr. Benjamin helped us narrow down the choices for this year’s project. He proposed we choose to work in one of three villages. Ultimately, we chose the village of Boa Bakundu. It is a village of approximately 4500 people located 15 km from Kumba. The village is separated into 8 quarters, each with its own quarter head. The village is headed by a chief who is elected democratically. Currently, the village gets its water from nearby streams and a spring that is polluted.

The village has split their project into 4 phases. Boa Bakundu has already created a catchment, or dam, to collect water from a spring in the jungle which is phase 1. They have also raised funds to assist in buying materials for construction. Phase 2 is construction of a large tank in the first quarter of the village and running a pipeline from the catchment to the tank. We have been in contact with Mr. Benjamin and we are hopeful that the tank will be complete by the time we arrive. Our primary goal for the summer is to place approximately 1.2 km of pipe from the catchment to the tank. Phase 3 is running pipeline to the second quarter of the village. Finally, phase 4 connects the rest of the village to the water supply. The villagers have established a water committee, which is essential to continue with other phases of the project and maintain the system once it is in place. Mr. Wakouwa David is chairman of the local water committee. Villagers have pledged to assist in all phases of construction.

Our first goal upon arrival in the village will be a thorough assessment of current conditions. This will most likely include a tour of the village itself, visiting the spring location, talking with the water committee, and a complete survey of the proposed pipeline route. After completing our study, we will be able to design the system. The pipeline will be a will be a gravity flow system, meaning that gravity is the only source of energy provided to move the water through the piping system. Gravity flow systems eliminate the need for pumps that would require a power source. Mechanical pumps would greatly increase maintenance costs for the pipeline. After design, we will have to travel to Kumba to order the necessary pipe, valves, tools, and any other supplies. Acquiring materials can be a hassle in a country such as Cameroon. Concrete is especially scarce (and not nearly the same quality as in the United States).

While waiting on materials to arrive, we will most likely begin excavation along the route. After placing pipes, we will need to leak test the system to ensure that no contamination will occur as the water travels through the pipeline. After testing, we should be able to turn on the tap and fill the tank in the village. It sounds pretty simple now. I just hope it ends up being that simple in real life. :)

We would have liked to implement filtering like the ETHOS Cameroon group did last year. However, we have a group of engineers that is half the size and Boa Bakundu is over 10 times larger than Barombi. Perhaps for next year, a group could return to Boa Bakundu to implement either a large central filter or smaller individual filters for each home. I feel the project will be a great success if we can get the pipeline to the tank and provide the village with an adequate source of clean water.

My personal goal is to use this experience to learn more about myself and another culture. I hope this will be a life changing summer. Stay tuned to the blog for more information. The next time you hear from me, I should be in Cameroon. :-P

The last year

Now that I've updated you through last summer, I'll focus on what I've done the last year. Last summer I took a required summer surveying class. The class should be beneficial to me when I'm surveying in Cameroon this summer. After completing my surveying class, I continued to live on campus and worked for Ulliman Schutte Construction in their Miamisburg office. My primary tasks in the office were to estimate architectural aspects of jobs, scan/copy bid documents, and assist other engineers obtain quotations from vendors/subcontractors. Although I didn't like office life as much as being on the jobsite, I worked with fun, intelligent people and tried to learn as much about the bidding process as possible.

In the fall semester, I moved into my second UD house at 218 Lowes Street. I was living with 3 new roommates in a much smaller house but it was just as much fun as the previous year. I was taking another full load of 18 credits in the fall. At this point, I was getting into the meat of civil engineering classes. The classes were tough but it was exciting to see how civil engineers go about designing various systems that we use everyday. After taking these classes, I can't help but be amazed when I walk into a complex building or drive along one of the interstates. It boggles my mind to think about the impact engineers have on our daily lives that we take for granted. We just assume our cell phone will receive calls, our car won't break down, and that buildings will remain standing. I think thats partially why I chose engineering in the first place. I wanted to better understand how the world around me worked.

It was in the fall semester that I first began to seriously look at the ETHOS program at UD. My roommate John had lived and worked in Peru the previous summer. He helped a local school that was interested in advancing its computer technology. Another influence for me to look at ETHOS was 6 fellow civil engineers who had traveled to Cameroon last summer and worked on a water project. You can read about their trip in UD's Quarterly magazine. To summarize, the ETHOS program at UD was started when students decided they wanted to use their technical knowledge to serve others. Since its founding, ETHOS has sent engineering and science students all over the world. These students immerse themselves in the local culture while improving the lives of those around them. After hearing about my friends' rewarding experiences with ETHOS, I applied, interviewed, and was accepted into the program in the fall semester. I was told I would be working with friends and fellow engineers Mark Ewalt and Brian Baker in Cameroon on a water project.

In addition to ETHOS, I was involved in a lot of other interesting activities during my 4th year at UD. In January, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver, CO for a youth leadership conference for the American Society of Civil Engineers. I had been recently elected vice president of our student chapter for the 2009 calendar year. I also travelled with ASCE down to the regional student competition in Bowling Green, KY. We participated in all events again this year, including concrete canoe and steel bridge.

In case you didn't know, I'm also a huge Dayton Flyers fan. I especially love going to volleyball and men's/women's basketball games. Without a doubt, Flyer fans are some of the most loyal and best travelling in the country. I had high hopes for the men's basketball team this past year and they did not disappoint. My former cross-hall neighbor Chris Wright and his boys ended up making the NCAA tournament. Due to my consistent support of the team throughout the season, I had the chance to get tickets to the first and second round games in Minneapolis, MN. I knew I had to go. So 4 friends and I piled into a Chevy Malibu and made the 12 hour drive through the night to Minneapolis. I could probably write a few entries about that weekend alone. It was definitely a classic road trip. We got to Minneapolis (which was a pretty neat area if you ever get the chance to go) and watched our Flyers pull the "upset" over WVU on Friday. It was amazing to be there to witness the first NCAA tourney win by the Flyers in nearly 2 decades. We hung around on Saturday and went to the Mall of America and a local casino where I proceeded to win $50 in video poker. Sunday's game against Kansas didn't turn out the way we had planned, but nonetheless it was still an amazing adventure.

In addition to my "normal" classes in the spring semester, I was also enrolled in CEE 450: Senior Design. This class is a comprehensive design exercise that requires students to use knowledge gained throughout their studies to design a "real world" project. I decided to be a project manager for our senior design class. The other project manager and myself would be responsible for monitoring 34 fellow civil engineers, a few visual arts students, and some mechanical engineers during design of a vast church campus located in West Dayton. This was by far the most time intensive and challenging course I've ever taken. We began working on the project in October and finished up in mid April. I put in hundreds of hours as did many of my fellow classmates. It was an eyeopening semester. The key to good project management is learning about the members of your project team. I really believe that the class will help me in the future. As a class, we became a very close knit group and even hung out on the weekends. I've included a snapshots of the work the visual arts students put into the project showing the buildings and site work that we designed.

After CEE 450 was finally done, it was time to study for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. In order to become a licensed Professional Engineer, an person must meet certain experience and academic criteria. One of those criteria is to pass the FE exam which shows a basic level of engineer knowledge. I was very worried I wouldn't do well on the test, but it turned out UD had prepared me well. I haven't gotten the results back, but I believe I did well enough to pass.

After another finals week, it was time for graduation for many of my friends. It was tough saying goodbye to so many great people that have come into my life since enrolling at UD. Many of them said I was lucky to have the opportunity to come back to UD next year for my "victory lap." I couldn't agree more. After graduation, I headed to Daytona, FL for Dayton to Daytona. Dayton to Daytona is another unique aspect of UD. This year over 2000 UD students made the trip to Daytona, FL for our own little spring break trip. It was so much fun hanging out with many of my friends at the beach. I even got the chance to hang out with some people I hadn't been with since freshman year. It gave me the chance for extended goodbyes to some of my best friends. (free beer everyday wasn't too bad either) Everyday was about 90 degrees and sunny. It was tough to land back in Pittsburgh with 40 degree temps. After touchdown, I would have 2 weeks to finish preparation for Cameroon.

Tomorrow's post will go in depth about our project and the steps we've taken to prepare for our trip.

My first foray into blogging

Hello everyone. Well, this blog marks my first attempt at being journalistic in any way. I was the sports editor for my high school yearbook, but that job mostly consisted of writing captions for photos (which I was quite good at, I must admit)

I'll start off with a little about myself. I'm currently a senior in civil engineering at the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH. UD has been the most amazing experience of my life. I've met so many great friends and have taken advantage of some unique opportunities along the way. It was a huge adjustment moving from small hilly town of Kittanning, PA to the relatively flat city of Dayton, OH. I was all alone in a new place, but so where many other kids at UD. I immediately made new friends and realized that UD would be my new "home" for the next 4 (or in my case, 5) years. I always tell people that UD is the greatest university in the world. That is not a lie, but I might be a little biased. I encourage anyone considering colleges to put UD on your list.

Anyways, after having a blast freshman year making the hike up the hill to Stuart Hall through rain, snow, and sleet, I came back home for the summer. I was sad to leave, but I managed to get a summer internship with the Gateway Engineers in Pittsburgh. I had a great summer working with Gateway and learning about municipal engineering. In addition, I helped my buddy Carl with his sprint car race team and hung out with old friends. I can see why people love college. UD has a remarkable sense of community. It was odd to realize I couldn't just walk down the hall and find someone to hang out with during the summer.

In fall 2006, I moved into Virginia W. Kettering Hall the day after Carl won his first feature race. (what a great way to end my summer) VWK was nice and it was an easier walk than Stuart Hall. That semester was a wakeup call to how difficult engineering would become. I had 17 credits, all of them math, science, and engineering. After struggling through the first half of the semester, I began interviews for co-ops for the winter semester. For those that don't know, co-ops allow students to gain valuable work experience while they are still in school. They also pay pretty well and I liked the idea of taking a semester off of classes :). I interviewed with 5 companies and received 5 offers. It was a difficult decision to make, but I finally chose to work for Ulliman Schutte Construction.

Ulliman Schutte Construction is a general contractor based in Miamisburg, OH (just south of Dayton) that specializes in construction and renovation of water and wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern US. After a much needed winter break, I moved to Roanoke, VA to begin my assignment to a project that was expanding a wastewater treatment plant. I had my own small apartment paid for by USC. It was pretty exciting to be living on my own 6 hours from home. Roanoke has a small town feel. The city itself is situated in picturesque mountains and would be my home for the next 5 months. At the jobsite, I was in charge of purchasing materials, renting equipment, tracking submittals, and other miscellaneous tasks. Traveling around the city to pick up pipe, bolts, equipment, and other supplies allowed me to learn the ins and outs of the area quickly. I can probably still tell you how to get to the 2 nearest Lowes in the area from anywhere within a 20 mile radius. Roanoke is a great outdoors city and the weather is gorgeous most of the year. However, the jobsite I was working on was almost complete and I would be co-oping through August.

I had been working with a project engineer at Roanoke for most of my first term. During my stay in Roanoke, he became project manager of a new wastewater treatment plant near Culpeper, VA. Adam decided that I would be a good fit on his jobsite. So plans were made for me to move from Roanoke to Culpeper via Washington, D.C. at the end of April. For a month, I commuted over an hour fifteen minutes from a USC owned apartment in Alexandria, VA to Culpeper, VA. The drive stunk but it was pretty awesome living in D.C. Myself and a fellow co-op had a lot of fun. We were pretty close to the metro station and I hopped on it a few times to travel into the city to catch a Nationals game as well as see all the sites downtown. I wish I had been 21 so I could have experienced the nightlife in the city, but it wasn't that big of a deal to me at the time.

During my month in D.C., I was the only engineer on the jobsite full time. Adam would travel up from Roanoke for a few days each week to check on progress and attend meetings. Adam had full faith in my abilities after working together in Roanoke. He put me in charge of tracking progress of concrete placement, equipment deliveries, rentals, purchase orders, piping layout drawings, subcontracts, among various other responsibilities. (I even got to run the excavator, which was much easier than I anticipated once I got the hang of it) I also worked with the superintendant and foremen on a daily basis. It was during this summer that I recognized that I wanted to become a project manager in construction. It was exhilarating to watch the new wastewater plant being built and knowing that I played a large part in that. I couldn't have asked for a better project manager, superintendant, and project to work with. I moved to Culpeper at the end of May and lived with the new project engineer for the rest of the summer. I was sad to leave the jobsite in August but I was also eager to get back to my friends at UD.


In fall 2007, I moved into my first UD house. For those non-UDers out there, UD has a completely unique housing system for upperclass students. UD owns hundreds of houses. Students apply through a lottery system based on academic credits and discipline violations to choose their houses. All of these houses are located in tight knit residential areas. These areas are affectionately referred to as the "Ghetto" and "Darkside." All houses are college students so it makes for some fun filled weekends, especially when the sun is out. I would be living in 108 Woodland on the Darkside with 6 new roommates. We figured out that it was the largest non-frat house that UD owns. We also made good use of the basement that has since been locked up by UD facilities. (Check out this link to take a peek inside) Junior year brought its own set of challenges as classes became tougher. I still managed to do quite well despite turning 21 halfway through the year.

That takes me through the end of my "Junior" year at UD. More to come about my adventures during my 4th/Junior Part 2/Senior year tomorrow.