Sherry DiBari著
Kaileen “Kai" 迈尔斯 isn’t afraid to do the unexpected.
6月, 迈尔斯 will leave Virginia to attend the United States Navy Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island, where she will be one of the few female civil engineers in attendance.
“I just also love trying things that are kind of unexpected, like putting myself in a position that a lot of people would not see,迈尔斯说.
迈尔斯, who graduated Saturday with a bachelor’s in civil engineering and a minor in environmental engineering, 在领导方面学到了很多教训吗, project management and straightforward communication over the past four years.
迈尔斯 and her twin, Jai, were born at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. 她的父亲是海军. 这家人经常搬家, 居住在加州, Florida and Guam before settling in Virginia Beach.
“I've been moving, pretty much from kindergarten to about fifth grade,”她说。. “我每三年搬一次家.”
迈尔斯参加了 州长STEM学院 at Landstown High School where she was introduced to engineering and robotics.
到了申请大学的时候, 迈尔斯’ mother offered practical advice on selecting a field of study.
“The main thing she wanted us to learn was that if you're getting a college degree, to make sure you love it and that you apply yourself to it, and that you can see yourself using your degree,迈尔斯说.
迈尔斯 earned an associate degree in engineering from Tidewater 社区 College before transferring to ODU to study civil and environmental engineering.
At the University, 迈尔斯’ life revolved around studying with friends and classmates.
“We would go to the library every day together,”她说。. “We always had a corner in the library and that was our spot. It’s just funny, you can just see how focused the engineering majors are.”
迈尔斯 had several favorite professors at Old Dominion, 包括尹宰完, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“Dr. Yoon is very straightforward and when he sees potential, he makes sure that you earn it,”她说。. “我真的很喜欢他这一点.”
尹增铉赞扬迈尔斯, 形容她是“永远积极的”, 协作独立, 不知疲倦和坚韧.”
This year 迈尔斯 served as the captain of the ASCE混凝土独木舟队, a competition in which students construct a large canoe out of concrete and compete against other university teams.
In this role, she learned valuable lessons in project management, teamwork and communication.
“I was very straightforward with the team,”她说。. “但与此同时，我尊重他们所有人. My favorite part about Concrete Canoe was taking everyone's advice and trying to see how we could apply it, because we had no idea what we were going to do.”
迈尔斯’ engineering internships also provided a variety of hands-on experiences. At the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), she learned about the importance of research by working with graduate and doctoral students.
“当时, they were trying to lower the dissolved oxygen to save energy for water bills,”她说。. “这真的很有趣.”
迈尔斯 said she was treated like part of the team as an intern at Hazen and Sawyer, working on pump station projects at the company.
“They put you on every project and treat you like an employee,”她说。.
During her third internship at Gannett Fleming, 迈尔斯看着杰西卡·侯, 公司的副总裁, 控制了一个房间.
“She showed how women can be in charge and how women can do anything,迈尔斯说.
在甘尼特弗莱明, 迈尔斯 collaborated with staff on water-focused environments and also learned the value of community service.
She will apply all those lessons learned as she begins OCS in Rhode Island next month. 在那之后, she will head to California for more training in project management and civil engineering.
In the long run, 迈尔斯’ dream job is to work on mitigating pollution in the ocean.
“I was surrounded by the ocean all my life, and I love it,”她说。.
Building and constructing projects that benefit the community interests her as well. She remembered living in Guam and the construction the military had underway, like the new roads that allowed all the children to go to school.
“I would be happy as long as the job is uplifting the United States and the communities surrounding it,”她说。.