by Claire Vellinga, Construction Observation Intern
There are days where I take a step, and for a moment I simply take in the world around me and the space I fill within it. This is when I realize I am no longer a little girl with hopes and dreams. I am a woman with plans that align with my life goals. To be completely honest, I didn’t grow up wanting to be a civil engineer. I didn’t even know it was a career. But I’ve always had a knack for puzzles, logic, and problem-solving games and activities, so it seemed logical to look into engineering. Sitting in my freshman Introduction to Engineering class at Hope College, civil engineering caught my attention. I liked the fact that it seemed tangible. Things you could actually see and touch. However, even then I didn’t really understand how vast the field of opportunity in civil engineering was. It wasn’t until I started my internship at Prein&Newhof after my sophomore year that my curiosity and fascination within civil engineering really took flight.
One of my favorite parts of being on a job site is watching what I see on paper get excavated and constructed. I see it as a whole world underneath the world we know. The underground infrastructure fascinated me. While inspecting on site, I typically just see one small part at a time. But I’ve found it intriguing to look beyond just what is in the hole below me or on the plan set in front of me. Thinking about how everything is connected and carefully designed, calculated, and constructed to serve the needs of our communities is what I’ve found myself interested in.
This summer, I got to watch a live sewer connection. This was an interesting experience for me as it was the first time I had seen anything like it. Before that day, I don’t think I realized how complex and involved an infrastructure update like that can be. Between coordinating bypass pumping and the actual live connection, there was a lot going on. This experience really helped open my eyes to the bigger picture. While I was just looking at a pipe, a whole team of individuals was working both up and downstream to make sure the connection was smooth. That day, I learned a lot about coordination and constructability from a “hands on” perspective.
The “hands on” experience has been one of my favorite parts of interning at P&N. There’s a lot I can learn in the classroom, and from fellow engineers, but as a college intern, it has been extremely useful to actually see the work out in the field. It’s been fun to see things I read in a book, or got lectured on, show up in my field inspections. I’ve learned so much from observing and from asking questions. From basic terminology to phasing and environmental regulations, there is something new to learn every single day.
I’ve interned with the Holland Office’s engineering team for the past two summers, and Ken Bosma, Jonathan Nelson, Lucas Timmer, and Jesse Boogaard have been the best mentors. They answer my daily questions and elaborate further than what I even knew to ask about. From the beginning, they made it clear that no question was a stupid question. There is so much I have yet to learn, and they are more than patient in their explanation and reasoning. This environment made me feel safe to learn, grow, and make mistakes.
At its core, this is why I chose to join Prein&Newhof post-graduation. The work environment the team has created gives me the confidence and support I desire as a new engineer, and I know that I will take this experience and continue to keep learning as I grow in my engineering career here. I’m excited to know that this is a culture and community that I will continue to get to work in every day.
