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Diversity in Engineering & Advocacy · AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations

• speaker-0: Welcome back to AccessCo Leaders. I'm Ilyne. I get to host this career conversation with our students from Freire Charter High School and our incredible guest. Well, coming back for another session, Shaneka Odom, who is the Deputy Division Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration. Shaneka, welcome back. It's good to see you again. speaker-2: Thank you. It's good to be here. I really appreciate being asked to come back. speaker-0: Awesome, awesome. Well, you were so great pouring into the other set of students that we get to have you back with our free our charter high school students. Now tell us what you do as a deputy division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration. speaker-2: So what I do is I'm responsible for our office full of engineers, environmentalists, ⁓ financial specialists, you name it. because my background is in transportation engineering, the field that I work in is under the United States Department of Transportation. And what I'm responsible for is all of our tax money that goes through the federal transportation bills and that are allocated through different tax sources. comes through my office and my team distributes that money to the state of Maryland to pay for all of the infrastructure projects that exist in the state of Maryland. speaker-0: Awesome. All right. You mentioned that you're in the state of Maryland. Can you tell us a little bit, where did you grow up and where are you located now? speaker-2: So right now I'm located in Baltimore, Maryland. I am a Baltimore native born and raised in Baltimore city. And I've been here most of my life, but I had a chance once I got a job with the federal government, I had a chance to move around the country. So for the last 10 years, I've been able to live in multiple states. And the first state I've lived in outside of Maryland was West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia to be exact. And I also worked, lived in Portland, Oregon. And I worked there as an area engineer where I was was responsible for big major projects. speaker-0: Awesome. So have you been a federal employee this whole time or did you work for other companies? Tell us a little bit about that journey. speaker-2: All right, so I've been in the industry for a total of 22 years, 10 of which have been with the federal government. And prior to that, I worked for the state of Maryland. So when I was fresh out of college, they hired me to be a roadway designer. So that was my first job, fresh out of college with little to no real world experience. So I had a chance to redesign a bunch of different neighborhood communities. And I had a lot, I got a chance to gain some project management experience as well. I've also been trained to be a traffic engineer. So, you know, every time you push the buttons across the street, whenever you see those signs as you approach an intersection, like traffic signals and those types of things, I was the engineer that was responsible for putting those things in place. speaker-0: love that. And I know that you in a previous conversation, you also shared that you're also familiar with the lines in the street when your car runs over it, you know, like that's what's going to activate the lights to change. So thank you for what you do in the city of Baltimore and all the other cities you worked in. Now, did you wake up as a little girl one day and say, I want to make sure that I get to control the lights at the stop signs. Tell us about what you were interested in middle school and high school and how did you become a civil engineer. speaker-2: So my interest in middle school, I was really into old buildings and I really liked to draw houses. ⁓ thing I also was really into was design. So I was into clothing design, but I also was into building design. So basically I was an artist at heart. I loved to draw. I loved to draw people. I loved to draw clothing, different types of designs. And I also just was really obsessed with old, old buildings. Baltimore is a very old city and a lot of our buildings here date back to as far back as like the 1700s. So it was very fascinating to walk around my city all the time and see these really old structures. So that kind of was like the base for gaining interest in what I do now. So originally I wanted to be an architect and all through school, through high school, I thought that's what I wanted to do. But one of my teachers inspired me to look into engineering and ⁓ His selling point was that you would make more money. But I think really it's more of a, got a chance to like work with the community and I got a chance to engage with people every day that look like me, that are living neighborhoods that I grew up in. I got a chance to explain what I do to folks who might not necessarily get exposure or experience in that area. So as I went through high school, I went to a ⁓ trade high school. my trade was architectural drafting. That gave me an opportunity to do some on the job training with the Board of Education here in Baltimore City. So during my 12th grade year, I was able to do my course load for the first half of the day. And for the last half of the day, they allowed me to go on site at the Board of Education. And I worked in their drafting department where I got a chance to do hands-on drawings of old school floor plans. And I was responsible for ⁓ transferring old plants onto, they call it mawa and you had to actually ink and use a gel, jelly roll pins and like physically give them a physical copy of a lot of their old plants. So that was my first little introduction to engineering. And not too long after that, I was accepted into a program, a early college program at Morgan State University. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: And they give you like a summer program that introduces you to your first year. And I got a chance to stay on campus for the summer. And then they kind of gave you like an early preview into the type of engineering classes you would be, that you would take during the school year. So that kind of led me into becoming an engineer. speaker-0: Wow. So a lot of natural curiosity and then the opportunities that you were able to just step into that either you researched or that were presented to you. So that is incredible. And speaking of opportunities, that's why we exist as AccessCo Leaders. So our students get to have these kinds of conversations with professionals like you. That said, thank you for sharing information about yourself. Let's get to know our first student. from Freer Charter High School, Mehki. Mehki, why don't you share a little bit with Shaneka what your interests are currently and what your plans are after high school in just a few weeks? speaker-3: Nice to meet you, Shaneka. My interest after high school, I would like to be a mechanical engineer. I always like to think in depth about how things work, they interact with things outside of themselves, like outside systems. And I just, as an engineer, I want to contribute to how the world progresses. speaker-2: Nice to meet you, Mehki. And ⁓ I like the vision that you have there. Because we definitely need more engineers for sure. It's a shortage. So in every aspect of engineering, we need more folks. We need more kids to be interested and to go into these fields. And there will be plenty of opportunities and a lot of ⁓ upward mobility if you do decide to go into mechanical engineering. speaker-0: Shaneka, can you share with Mekhi a little bit about ⁓ the best steps or how to prepare to get a job in the government as an engineer? speaker-2: Yes, so there's a couple of pathways you could go through. One is, for instance, my agency has a have internship programs that we hire high school students to just introduce them to the transportation field, for example. But we also have a entry level program called the. ⁓ Well, the name is escaping me right now, but they hire you fresh out of college. ⁓ It's a two year program and you get a stipend. go anywhere in the country and you get a chance to kind of experience different fields and different jobs for two years. And you can travel to different states and you can work with different departments. And then at the end of that two years, you decide where you want to end up in the country and you decide what type of ⁓ field that you want to go into and then they place you in that area. It's a really excellent program. ⁓ it's called the Professional Development Program, the PDP program that's specific to the United States Department of Transportation for a mechanical engineer. I would have to look into some some things that could be available to you because I have to figure out what which departments would would hire your field. My department of transportation, we tend to look for civil engineers. but I do know of like Department of Defense and a few other federal agencies that look for mechanical engineers. speaker-0: Mehki what's your follow-up question for Shaneka? speaker-3: What other, what experiences in high school sort of like shaped your want to go into the Federal Highway Administration? speaker-2: For sure, was the fact that my, I went to, I went to two high schools actually. My first two years was at a college prep high school that you go to this school if you want to be an engineer or you want to go into computer science. So that school, as soon as you came in in ninth grade, you were already called the engineer and they were gearing you towards your first year of college. They were preparing you. So that first two years kind of was the stepping stones and kind of prepared me for what I knew I was going to end up doing, which was either architecture or engineering. But my last two years of school, ended up at the trade school that I talked about in architectural drafting. Like getting that hands-on experience is really what drove me. And I think that's what inspired me to keep going. ⁓ doing architectural drafting at a trade school, it's like you got a chance to actually learn how to draw by hand on a drawing board. You had to earn your way to a computer to do CAD. So those types of things were exciting for me. I love working with my hands. ⁓ always loved to draw. So those in high school, those were the main things that got me engaged and inspired me. speaker-0: Excellent. Mehki, can you share with ⁓ Shaneka what kind of experience you've had in engineering or what classes you've experienced so far? You've completed in high school in that direction. speaker-3: Well, you touched on this a little bit, but you said something about project management. I just completed a project management class at Tempo, not Tempo, excuse me, CCP, our community college here in Philadelphia. But in terms of civil engineering, through Mr. Joe and his Experiential Opportunity, I got to intern for, I would say, two weeks or so at a civil engineering firm, T &M, Engineering Associates. I got to work with CAD. I got to go to a few of their sites and it was a really fun experience. I got to design my own park as well with a budget. speaker-2: I know, it's nice. speaker-1: Thank speaker-2: So it sounds like you're still open. Is that true? Because I would love to entice you to go into transportation engineering. speaker-0: It sounds like that you're doing that, Shaneka. I'm like, hmm, mechanical engineering or civil engineering. And speaking of that, Shaneka, can you share just so all of our students understand the differences of the major studies of engineering? speaker-2: ⁓ yes. speaker-0: There's the civil engineering that you're doing. Mehki is interested in mechanical engineering. There's some other major ones. speaker-2: There's a lot of major ones and it's even in my discipline. So in civil engineering alone, you have the option to go into structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, materials engineering, hydraulic engineering, traffic engineering, ⁓ roadway design, project management. So it's like just under civil engineering that could that could give you seven different options. There's also mechanical engineering. There's ⁓ industrial engineering, electrical and computer engineering. ⁓ The school I went to, State University, they offered ⁓ industrial engineering, civil engineering, and ⁓ industrial, civil, electrical and computer engineering. Yes. And I can't even begin to tell you how many branches of engineering you speaker-0: ⁓ All the engineering. speaker-2: you could kind of like branch off into just under those disciplines. But I feel like your possibilities are endless. Let's see. You also could go into chemical, biomechanical engineering if you want to lean more towards the medical side of things. I swear, it's like, you name it, it's the engineer behind it. So yeah, your options are endless. speaker-0: see a smile on the head, not from Akai. It's like you're shopping around for the different types of engineering. Are you pretty married to being a mechanical engineer? speaker-3: Yes, I want to go into the defense industry because job stability mostly, but also ⁓ like I said, want to ensure that we stay safe the best way we can. speaker-0: That's awesome. Mehki, where does that come from? You said job stability and for us to be safe. Tell us a little bit more about that. speaker-3: ⁓ Well, my brother served in the military ⁓ army intelligence. and I looked up to my brother a lot and ⁓ a ⁓ lot of the things that he used while he was deployed and stuff like that stems from an engineer because he used a lot of drones, he used a lot of ⁓ sort of hardware and stuff like that. So yeah, that's where that stems from really. And also, again, like I said, job stability and stuff like that. speaker-0: That's good. Well, thank you for sharing that, Mehki. know Shaneka, I know family is really important for Shaneka and we'll probably get into that. But we're to do a little bit of a hardship from a student really interested in engineering to a student who's more interested in like business and more of the creative things, more of our Renaissance lady here. So Samantha, why don't you share a little bit with Shaneka of what your current interests are and what your plans are after high school. speaker-3: My plans after high school include going to school for business management to hopefully one day open my own business. And that business I prefer would be a bookstore because I do have a strong passion for reading and writing. So also on top of that, would also like to be an author. speaker-2: is writing some notes because I always think about you guys when I leave. And so if I think of some additional resources or items that I wanted to share, I want to make sure that I send that to you all later. So I know we only have an hour. So I'm taking little notes and I'm jotting down some of the things you all are interested in so I can. speaker-4: I think you- speaker-0: Shaneka ⁓ real honest about that. She will send an email about some, ⁓ links and different resources for y'all. So be as open and honest with her, and she will do some studies for you. Thank you for sharing all of that, Samantha. ⁓ Shaneka, do you have any ⁓ words of encouragement or any experience in those areas that Samantha shared? speaker-2: Yes, so as a book lover myself and a lover of bookstores, especially like older bookstores that are like mom and pop that have collections of all types of books. I applaud you. We need more artists out here. We need more authors out here. So you want to major in business management. Did you have a school in mind? speaker-3: Yes, I'm going to East Charleston University. speaker-2: Where is that located? speaker-3: It's located in East Strasburg, Pennsylvania. speaker-2: Pennsylvania. So my advice to you would be to first and this is my advice to everyone. Once you get to college, try your best to get involved in as many activities outside of your major and within. I also recommend that you all at least try to do internships almost every year if you can to try to get some real world experience with business management. Again, your options are endless. You don't necessarily have to stop there. For instance, my agency, we hire folks who are business majors to do our, to handle operations, to handle the day-to-day business behind what we do. But you want to be an entrepreneur and have your own bookstore. do you have, ⁓ like what type of author do you want to be? Like, do you want to write certain types of books or? speaker-3: I haven't decided on a specific genre yet. I'm open to a lot right now. speaker-2: but in your interest right now. speaker-3: I like fantasy and mystery. speaker-2: Nice, nice. speaker-0: Samantha, is there a bookstore or a book owner, different author that you currently follow that you inspire to be? speaker-3: I'm not really. speaker-0: And then as far as businesses or a specific direction in business that you're interested in is like the marketing side or the accounting. What brings you joy when you think about starting your own business? speaker-3: It's just the independence that I'll have by starting my own business. speaker-0: Do you have any other entrepreneurs in your life? Like have you looked at somebody and were like, want to do, I want to do that. I want to run my own thing. Like what inspired you to, to ⁓ say that you want, you want to run your own business. We lose Samantha. speaker-3: you've noticed, there's been like little independent bookstores that have popped up around Philadelphia and I find those to be kind of an inspiration. speaker-0: Excellent. Shaneka, do you have any words of encouragement for somebody like Samantha? speaker-2: Yes, I would encourage you to one, go visit some of those bookstores and talk to some of the owners about what did they do to get into this business and like what's needed and what steps they took to get there. think that would be really helpful for you. It'll also help you to frame your education so that you can get the experience you need to run a business, but also be able to also fulfill your dream of becoming an author as well. speaker-0: Yeah, actually, Shaneka, thanks for bringing that up because you did bring up Samantha that you want to be an author and have a business. there, you know, when you study business, there are different areas. Like I was asking, you need to be able to put your bookstore out there. Like people need to know, you know, that you exist. So not saying that you have to go out there and be like an influencer, but you need to know how to make sure that your name is out there, whether that is through social media, whether it is through advertising, like every city has their own like little magazine or their own paper to put your name out there. that's, you know, a personal interest of mine is wondering how do people get out there? You know, how do they get their name out there? But also what's important are the people who take care of your money, right? Like it's not a business unless you're making money. So making sure that you have somebody that can, you know, keep your books clean. Do you have what's your question for Shaneka? What questions do you have, Samantha? speaker-3: My question was, you went back to speak for a master's degree. Do you feel this was the right decision for you and your intended career path? speaker-2: Yes, going for my master's degree was probably one of the best things I could have done. One, it kind of set me apart. The field that I'm in, even though it's not enough people to fill the gaps in ⁓ the numbers, it was very important to help set me apart from competition. Like being in this industry, it is very competitive. and every position that I went for was competitive. So I needed to do something and make sure that I did things that set myself apart. ⁓ In addition to getting my master's degree is a master's of science in transportation and infrastructure studies. I know that I'm passionate about transportation and I knew I wanted to remain in this field for the rest of my career. So my master's degree, I wanted to make sure that I got specialized experience in transportation topics specifically. like logistics and different components. So depending on where I wanted to go in the future, I was prepared. So yes, the master's was very much worth it. But one thing, one advice that I gave to the last group that I want to give to you, don't ever pay for a master's degree. There's always money available. I did not pay for my master's degree. One, my job reimbursed me for my master's degree and my school because I went back to Morgan State to get my master's. They gave me money to come back because I got my bachelor's from Morgan. So there is money available. You don't have to take out heavy loans to get a college degree. I feel like that's a bit of a myth. There is money out there, but you definitely have to go be proactive and seek that money out. speaker-0: Right. Samantha, what's your follow up question for Shaneka? speaker-3: My question is you went from working at a state company to a federal company. Would you say your life has improved or declined since this change? speaker-2: I would say it improved drastically because one, gave me a chance to travel from the state level. You work at the state. You don't really get a chance to travel your specific, like you're working on areas that specific to that state. But what I found that working for the federal government, I've gotten a chance to live, like I said, in three different states. I've traveled all across the country ⁓ for trainings and different courses and different projects I had to visit. I had a chance to go to Alaska. I had a chance to go to all different parts of the South, areas that I had never been ever. And I probably wouldn't have touched those states if it wasn't for my job. ⁓ The pay, I cannot complain. The pay is excellent. The benefits are amazing. And I would say that it opened my worldview by working for the federal government, exposed me to different areas of engineering that I didn't know existed. It exposed me to different people and I got a chance to network with people I wouldn't have ever had a chance to interact with. And also at the federal level, you kind of get a little bit of international experience as well because the United States, ⁓ they work with other countries to one, improve our different, we might go to ⁓ Amsterdam because they have excellent ⁓ bike network and they have ⁓ excellent bike facilities. So we would. go visit a place like Amsterdam and bring those types of things back to the United States. So being able to be a part of an agency that does that type of work is really exciting. speaker-0: That's awesome. I remember you shared ⁓ prior that before you're in high school when you got to go to Japan, it was the first time that you were ever on a plane. First time you ever left your state. Like, it's amazing the opportunities that you just say yes to. That's awesome. And Samantha, I know you're going to have plenty of opportunities to say yes to. ⁓ Let's hop over to Joshua. Joshua, what questions do you have for Shaneka? speaker-3: Hi, my name is Joshua. I'm senior for the charter school. My question is, how do you support innovation and modernization for smart infrastructure within the framework of federal transportation? speaker-2: And I lost you a little bit in the audio. Can you ask your question for me one more time? I'm sorry. No, it's not your fault. It's my it's my. speaker-3: How do you support innovation and modernization for smart infrastructure within the framework of federal transportation programs? speaker-1: Thank speaker-2: So, so federal funding, so that that's tied to taxes and is tied to. Actually, let me pull back a little bit. So at the federal level, we push for and we ⁓ fund innovation. We actually have a whole set of funding set aside for us to support states who want to do innovative things. We actually have a resource program that we connect our state, like for instance, I'm in the state of Maryland. I have a connection with every state in the United States. We have offices in ⁓ every state. in the United States. So I'm able to tap into resources in, let's say, California. If they have a program that's innovative, if they're using technology that my state may not have access to or haven't been exposed to, I have a chance to do peer exchanges where we do similar to how I talked about, we could connect with different countries and compare notes and bring innovation back to our country. We also do that amongst the different states here in the United States as well. So we push for innovation, we ⁓ actually need innovation. ⁓ As you know, technology is changing every single day. AI is being incorporated into all things that we do. And so we definitely have to keep up with the times. A lot of our systems are automated. We're moving towards autonomous vehicles. So we have a whole research department here at the United States Department of Transportation that focuses just on autonomous vehicles. We even have like test sites where we test out AI and how that interacts with our traffic signals, how that interacts with different technologies. So innovation is very big at the federal level and we push for every aspect that we can. ⁓ I think that's about it. think that's hopefully that. speaker-0: That was a great question, Joshua. Sounds like you did your research. speaker-2: research. speaker-0: right. What was that important to you asking about innovation? speaker-3: Um, it was always about innovation because we're in a modern day and age of where a lot of things are growing in a, on a bigger scale than they were years ago, where a lot of new, uh, infrastructures or cars, things are being more modernized in a way of like AI and technology is advancing, making them more simple than what they are before. And pretty much my, The reason why I find that very important to me because the career path I want to take on is modernizing the world to make it much more simple and easier for people as they get older. speaker-2: I'm so glad you mentioned that because one thing I will point out is a lot of our infrastructure here is very old. And a lot of times we've had to retrofit new technology into our really old infrastructure. And one is expensive and it's difficult to maintain. So we definitely need more folks like you to go into the industry to help us modernize our systems. We definitely have a long way to go and we definitely will need all of your help in bringing us. into the 21st, 22nd century for sure. speaker-0: Josh, what's your next step? What do you plan on doing after high school? speaker-3: My next step is going to college and achieving my master's degree and my major I would want to be an electrical engineer. speaker-0: We have another engineer that makes Shaneka really happy. So Josh, what's your follow up question for Shaneka? speaker-3: My follow-up question is, what were some key tips, like what are some key tips do you have like going throughout college? How should I prepare going into my first year of college? speaker-2: First, you want to prepare yourself mentally. So in high school, you probably have your teachers who might remind you, you have something coming up, something that is due. When you get to college, that goes away completely. You get a syllabus at the beginning of the school year. And if you have things that are due, that's going to be your responsibility to make sure you meet those deadlines. Your professors are not going to chase you down to make sure you do what you're supposed to do. So that's the one thing you have to prepare for that this will be night and day from your experience in high school as far as that's concerned. You'll be responsible for managing yourself and your schedule and you will be the person making sure you get yourself to class every day. Which my first year that was definitely like hard because it's like, I have a 6 a.m. class, I have to get up at 6 a.m. I have a seven o'clock class and I have a 10 o'clock class that's on the other side of campus and you have to manage all of that yourself. It definitely took me a while to get used to it. That first year was very difficult. The transition was hard. But the good news is you'll be surrounded by other students who are in the same shoes as you. So I recommend that you put yourself out there, expand your friend circle. Hopefully you might see some folks you know from high school maybe in college. That was the case for me. ⁓ Definitely make friends. Try to expose yourself to things that you might not have been exposed to in high school or just in your family and social life, try to put yourself out there and push yourself out of your comfort zone. speaker-0: yourself out of your comfort zone. Joshua, have you decided where you're going to go to school or are you staying in town? speaker-3: I'm undecided. My two options are Texas Tech or Penn State. speaker-0: Okay, so either getting out of state or staying close by. That's exciting. That's exciting. Well, congratulations to you, Joshua. We know you have a bright future ahead of you. We're excited to hear more about those, your adventure into electrical engineering. Let's shift over here to Tatiana. Tatiana, what's your questions for Shaneka? speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-2: I was looking at the FHWA website and I was wondering what type of like internships or things that you follow to fall into the line of being a part of this. Yes, so we have a internship program called the step date program is ⁓ and what that stands for. I'm trying to hurry up and look it up really quick. I was trying to see when the next cycle comes out. speaker-0: Is this a program for while they are in school or when they finish their undergrad? speaker-2: So it's a program. speaker-1: for speaker-2: for college students. But we do have a summer internship program that's specific to high school students because they just sent a request around seeing if we wanted to host high school students. So we do have a high school student program as well. And ⁓ we hire you part-time during the school year and you come work physically in our office and you work on a project. That's handled through our headquarters in Washington DC and I think they reach out to all the different states and if a division office like mine in Maryland shows interest, they'll find some local high school students in Maryland that are pretty close to our office who can come here and work part-time during the school year. And we'll put you to work. The students who we end up with, they're going to have real hands-on experience. We're not going to just have you in our office filing papers. You're legit going to be out on projects. You're going to get a chance to get your hands dirty. speaker-0: Well, our two ⁓ hopeful engineers here have big smiles on their face, but they're not going to be in high school in the next couple of weeks. Will you share with Shaneka what your interests are and what your plans are after high school? speaker-5: Tiana. speaker-2: I'm interested in psychology, so I want to go to college and do to get my masters to become a therapist, either as being a child therapist or a marriage and family. is needed and very important. speaker-0: So probably not child and family therapists there at the Department of Transportation ⁓ Highway Administration, but can you share in your experience, Unika, where you've seen ⁓ professionals with psychology background working for the federal government or even ⁓ with your organization? speaker-2: Yes, so a big piece and component of what we do is called human factors. So we have a whole department that analyzes how humans interact with the world at large. So let's say a traffic signal, for example, the placement of where it is. We would do tests and do research on what would be the easiest way for folks to access and see a push button to process street. Or we would do an analysis on, okay, if I put this stop sign right here, how long would it take you to react to it as you're driving 30 miles an hour to an intersection? So we have to make sure that any type of treatment, anything that we put out on the road, you as humans, how you interact with that is very important. And if we do something, if we don't factor that in, it could cause safety concerns and safety issues in the future. ⁓ We hire psychologists just to do research on how humans respond and interact with different technology and how they respond to different types of transportation devices, how they respond to like your drive. We actually do testing. Like if you're speeding down a roadway and someone or something jumps out, how long you take to respond to that. Those types of things we hire psychologists and psychologists to deal with and help us address. speaker-0: Now, Tana, have you heard anything about this? ⁓ speaker-2: I didn't think that psychology would be in something like this. I didn't even think they would cross lines. speaker-0: That's amazing Tatiana. Well, thank you Shaneka for sharing that. Tatiana, what's your follow-up question for Shaneka? speaker-1: Thank speaker-2: ⁓ I was just wondering, you talked a lot about Morgan. Is that something that personally impacted you? It placed you somewhere where you wanted to be or you felt like there was other schools that you could have gone to that gave you better opportunity? How do you feel about Morgan specifically? speaker-0: Here we go. speaker-2: The Morgan State University, the national treasure. I could not have asked for a better education than I received at Morgan State University. One, I am a huge fan of any HBCU. So that's the one thing I'm going to lean towards. I would hope that all of you would at least consider going to an HBCU, at least applying to a HBCU. But ⁓ going to Morgan was the best choice I could have ever made. When I graduated from Morgan, we were graduating the most black engineers in the country at the time. In addition, Morgan, ⁓ they poured into me, they invested in me, they gave me, they put me in position to have a job offer two weeks before I graduated from college. They set me up with internships. So the reason I got a job with the state of Maryland was because I was able to do internships every summer. because Morgan connected me with their construction engineering program. So I was out on construction projects every year, inspecting real world construction projects. I was out there with concrete being thrown on me and asphalt, but I had the most amazing time. And I knew I wanted that confirmed I wanted to go into transportation engineering. And then the best opportunity Morgan gave me was they sent me to Japan. So I worked with, had an internship with the Army Corps of Engineers. in Zama, Japan. And that's where they were mentioning, like, that was my first time on a plane, that was my first time out of the country. But Morgan paid for my flight, and they connected me with folks there, and they flew me back home. And that was the best experience of my life. I knew then that I wanted to work for the federal government at the, that internship in Japan. It was speaker-0: Tatiana, I am so glad you asked about ⁓ Morgan because from getting to know Shaneka, she is ⁓ proud you couldn't tell or feel it through this conversation. So if you're not already considering an HBCU, look at that, Mehki. You might want to think about that for your graduate degree. ⁓ They'll care of you. Absolutely. Thank you for that. I love how you just are so passionate and fired up about HBCUs and your your diamond ⁓ education there at Morgan State. Now we have not forgot about our last student, Jordan. ⁓ I'm excited to share a little bit about Jordan who has an interest in maybe some political issues, also another renaissance here. So Jordan, share with Shaneka a little bit about your interests and what your plans are after high school. speaker-3: ⁓ hi. My... So I'm going to Arcadia for arts after high school for art and music, but personally, like, I'm trying to like, I'm trying to be like an entrepreneur, whether it be with like art, producing music or like poetry or writing. That's what I'm trying to do. I don't know if that's like, makes sense. speaker-2: ⁓ I'm an artist myself. ⁓ also played clarinet and alto sax in high school. in, ⁓ well, since elementary school, I played clarinet. And then when I got to middle school, I started playing alto sax. ⁓ speaker-6: Well, I'm not. speaker-0: Shaneka, can you share with Jordan a little bit about how your job and your experience with civil engineering and with the Department of Transportation, how that's taught you how you can work with your government to make changes in your community? speaker-2: Yes, so ⁓ One of my passions is giving back and paying it forward. So as I mentioned earlier, I came from a neighborhood where we weren't aware of and didn't know, like I didn't know who installed traffic signals. I didn't know who was responsible for putting crosswalks in my neighborhood. So once I got into this industry, I made it my mission to go and educate the folks who came from neighborhoods like mine because a lot. I feel like you can advocate for your community better if you know how the system works, if you know how your government works. So I made it my mission to go back and educate people. Well, anytime I was interacting with any citizens, I would educate them on who's responsible for certain improvements in their area. Like who's responsible for funding? Like did you all know or realize that your elected officials decide what neighborhoods and what areas in your community get funding? So. things like that are very important. And the more you know about how money is distributed, how your community is governed, the better you can advocate for your community. ⁓ when I was in college, ⁓ my senior project was to redesign an intersection in my childhood neighborhood. And lo and behold, working with the city of Baltimore for my senior project, I don't know if I could have been a catalyst for this, but I noticed a few years after I did my senior project, the improvements that I was suggesting at that intersection was incorporated into a streetscape project on my old street. So I was really, really happy that I was a part of something that led to change in my own neighborhood. Like I was super proud of that. speaker-0: That's awesome. Jordan, you mentioned that you have an interest in political issues. ⁓ Where does that come from? How did you get inspired by that? Does that help you to know that something as far as civil engineering can make such a difference at the grassroots and in communities? speaker-2: well. speaker-3: So I've always been a person. My mom's also a very political person and stuff like that. Like very progressive and stuff. She's always like LGBTQ and all that stuff. And my dad, he's an art teacher. He was an art teacher and a dance teacher. So when I was younger, which I can say this kind of lit it up, was we did a performance for a music artist that passed away. I think it was to Gun Violent. That kind of was one of the things that really inspired me to do it. And then in like 2020, it kind of just went like into a spiral and everything with Black Lives Matter happened. So I personally felt like it was wrong. And I just took that and like, like pushed that towards it. But with civil engineering, I forgot what the question was for civil engineering, but I do know that it can help. Like I did know that personally, because my family, like on top of that, my, forgot my Great aunt is, it's not the same thing, but it is at the same time. She is a biochemist or something like that towards germs and diseases and her son, think is like an engineer. And he kind of helps with that type of stuff to help, I think, communities or something. I kind of forgot. It's been a while. speaker-0: That's okay. That's okay. Shaneka, do you have any words of encouragement or some wisdom to share with somebody like Jordan? speaker-4: Yeah. speaker-2: Again, try to get as much experience and exposure to the field that you want to go into in the future. ⁓ I wish you were here because I have a friend of mine who I could introduce. Actually, I still can. I can see if I can introduce you to him. So he's right now he's teaching engineering through music and he's a he's a DJ. He's a producer, but he's also an engineer. And he's teaching and trying to draw the connection between how engineering can factor into music and how you can use that to enhance music and to produce. And I can't even name all of the things that he's into, but I could introduce you to him to at least open up your, try to broaden your exposure to music and production and those types of things. speaker-0: That's awesome. That's awesome. Jordan, how does that make you feel that just meeting Shaneka here today in this conversation that you get to start growing your network? speaker-3: Sorry, my thing cut out. Move the question one more time. speaker-0: question was, how does it make you feel that just meeting Shaneka in this conversation, now you get to start growing your network in an area that you may not have even thought of? speaker-3: ⁓ I do I really appreciate it to like see another respectfully another black woman those types of industries and stuff and to help me with it because I've had some connections where like I think I work we're currently working with like the same summer program at my school that I worked with for like the last two years and I've only had connections where it was either filming like filming and stuff like that but I never got to learn like the electrical or the engineering part and like I only got to learn like that part. I'm glad I could learn more of the electric. speaker-2: Thank speaker-0: That's awesome. Jordan, with these kinds of conversations, these interviews, ⁓ how has being able to have these conversations ⁓ helped grow your confidence in ⁓ leadership or in communication? speaker-3: I feel like, honestly, I think I got better at asking questions. I've always been somebody that asks a lot of questions, but I'm like, glad I get to learn more into all the different ways, like how like life can take people or like to see if some people like, like Shaneka where she was like, I know I'm going to be an engineer or something like that versus like, forgot what the other people, I do remember them, but they were like, I didn't think I was going to do it. Now I am going to be like, now I do do this. And it's like, what am I happiest things to do? speaker-0: I love hearing that Jordan. Let's go back to Tatiana. What did you pick up from our conversation with Shaneka today? speaker-2: As you're talking to her, I realized that ⁓ by going into college, even though obviously we didn't have like the same type of career, she talked a lot about like putting herself out there and looking, like going out of your way to look for these internships, look for these scholarships. And she talked about not paying for her masters. And I am good on keeping my money. I'm very frugal, so. I just acknowledging that I'll be able to find a way around not paying for my masters and allowing my education to pay for itself. It was good to hear that because there's not a lot of things that are promoting it. And I feel like as somebody that lives in these communities and just see a lot of things that are going on, it's not the easiest to pay for just trying to educate myself to help people when I can't even help myself when it comes to money. So learning that really helped me a lot because I can look more into it because I didn't even think about like a job being able to pay for it rather than I am and not going through that. speaker-0: Let's go. Shaneka, what encouragement do you have for Tatiana? speaker-2: Well, keep going. Thank you for being naturally curious. And hopefully I can talk to you a little bit more and we can get you in the Morgan State, just saying. But yes, you don't have to pay for your master's degree. You should not. speaker-0: There you go. There you go. All right, Samantha, over to you. In these conversations, how has it helped you grow confident in the direction that you want to go, being a business owner, being an author, or how did it help you grow more confident in communication? speaker-3: These conversations allowed me to grow my networking skills. for the career, wanna go with the business, because it's very important to network when you're in a business career. speaker-0: True, this is very true. All right, Joshua, what did you pick up or did you pick up anything from Shaneka today, a fellow engineer? speaker-3: I picked up a lot. ⁓ One thing I did pick up is that she first off her interest started off her from going to school her first two years of high school. She went to a pretty much out the gate engineering school, which is very interesting to me that it led to her path. That's on my path. I wanted to be an architectural engineer, but I switched my interests to electrical because I was fascinated with like power grids and computer software and stuff like that. And pretty much her advice to me is pretty much like keep going. And even though high school is one thing, college is a whole different minefield. So I have to be prepared mentally. speaker-0: That's right. Well, you mentioned power grids and I think civil engineering. don't know. Shaneka, there could be a connection there. So definitely stay in touch with Shaneka. And then we're going to wrap it up here with Mehki. Did you pick up anything from Shaneka today in our conversation? speaker-3: Well, she started off being like shaped by her environment. Her school was very engineer engineering sort of pushing, but she she found pride in her work not only through her school, but like through how she enjoyed working. She enjoyed helping how she helped design the intersection for her community as her senior project and stuff like that. And just because you were pushing a direction that doesn't mean you'll be happy with it. And she obviously is so. speaker-0: That's amazing. And you know what I learned about you, Mehki? I love that you were impacted by your family, by being exposed to your brother, who's your hero, and that that's something that you want to do is not exactly in his footsteps, but being able to support a career that he has stepped into. So thank you for sharing that, Mehki. Shaneka, get 60 seconds to share any further encouragement or wisdom for our students of Freire Charter High School. speaker-2: One, I want to thank you all for inviting me today. It really is a pleasure. One thing I want to share with all of you is, again, try to get exposure to as much as possible. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in the field of study that you choose. I definitely recommend that you, one, stay connected with your professors and make a lot of friends while you're in college. I shared this with the last group. I'll share this with you. It will be a team effort to get through college. You will have lots of late night study sessions with your fellow classmates. You will have a lot of team projects. Focus on trying to learn how to communicate. That's going to help you in no matter what field you choose. You want to be an entrepreneur. You want to be an engineer. Communication is going to be very important. Again, teamwork and working on teams is not going to go away. You're always going to have to work on a team. You're always going to have to work in a group. So trying to get acclimated and get used to working with different types of people with different personalities and different styles, that is going to take you far. speaker-0: Awesome. Well, Shaneka, we always appreciate your wisdom and your encouragement with our students. You've been listening to Access Co-Leaders Career Conversation with our guest, Shaneka Odom, the Deputy Division Administrator with the Federal Highway Administration and our co-hosts from Freire Charter High School, including Mehki, Tatiana, Samantha, Jordan, and Joshua. We'll see you next time. speaker-2: Thank you. ⁓ speaker-0: Okay, stop recording, there you go.