Outcome

The time has finally come. Home. This is our last week in Europe. We are preparing ourselves to give our final presentations and parting ways with all of our mentors and friends at the University. I still remember going to the IRES workshop back in the states and thinking "Wow, I'm about to go to Spain for six weeks." Now, I'm thinking about last minute adventures and packing.

There are many things that I've learned during the time I spent here that will help me both professionally and personally. First and foremost, do laundry. I never had to do laundry before, so when I arrived I had to learn. Seriously though, living on my own and with roommates I have never met before. Also having to cook for almost all my meals and cleaning the apartment. The subway/tram system is another big thing that I learned this summer. The first week here I was totally lost, and my whole group can back that up. But after using it constantly, especially when visiting other cities, I became familiar with it. Another big thing is just getting thrown into a foreign country and learning about other people's cultural overall. I definitely learned to enjoy life more and the company of friends. Always enjoy the little things in life and not work yourself to death. 

Professionally speaking, I learned more about a research setting and how it goes; simply by observing other lab technicians and grad students. I got exposed to a closer interaction between mentor/professor and student, even though my mentor couldn't be there as much due to a personal issue. This will help improve my communication skills when talking to a professor or professional about any concern I might have. I will be able to get the information across to them. Finally, I learned about my project itself. I learned about seismic concepts on reinforced concrete frames-the pushover analysis-and how masonry infill walls can be used as struts (a component that helps resist longitudinal compression in a structure).

I have already completed four years of Civil Engineering school and plan on graduating this coming up December. So excited! I also have an internship with Baird, Hampton & Brown, Inc. which is a Civil Engineering firm that provides many services but specializes in land development. In my case, I mostly do land development work or do research for a given project. I am learning however a lot along the way, which will make me more useful in later projects. I also am captain of the Steel Bridge Team for the ASCE UTA student chapter. I lead a team to design, fabricate, and construct to compete with other schools. Combining all these things I believe have impacted my ability to perform in my project. As I said before, our professor wasn't able to there as much as he wanted, so I was on my own for a while. However, because of my past experience, I was able to guide myself and give myself motivation into researching my project and running models in software. That way when I met with my mentor, I had something to over with him. I also took some classes prior to this study abroad program that had some similar concepts related to my project. Classes like reinforced concrete design, structural steel design and structural analysis. These classes helped me better understand the overall objective of my project. Overall, my prior educational experience helped me achieve my project goals and become successful in moving with the project even with the given circumstances. 

One big challenge that I encountered and that was least expected, is the lack of mentor and student interaction. Of course, my mentor had a severe personal issue to attend to, so it wasn't his fault. It was no one's fault really. On the other hand, I was left alone for a while trying to do research on my project and trying to comprehend everything I was doing. Whenever we did meet with my mentor however, he answered all of my questions, guided me to the right path and made me feel more confident in my work. I did expect to be in a more research lab setting, for example actually working in a lab, testing samples and taking data. Instead, it has been more of just doing research online, on databases, creating and running models on SAP2000 (structural software), and learning from my mentor. Even though this was great and I still learned a lot, working in an actual lab would have been nice.

In conclusion, this study abroad experience has been great and I couldn't be happier. I have learned not only about my field through my mentor and research but also about life itself. To see ow other people from a different culture live their everyday lives and how some practice in the field of Civil Engineering. I'm excited to return the UTA and share all of my experiences to my peers and professors.

Til' next time. Hasta luego!