SHPE Student Success Story!

We at the W. Scott Amey Center pride ourselves in helping our talented students grow to reach their professional potential and achieve all they desire. Today, meet Mario Velasquez, a current SEAS student at the George Washington University as he recaps his experience with SHPE 2018 and how it impacted him.

Hello all, my name is Mario Velasquez and I am a senior Civil Engineering major. In my sophomore year, I became very interested in getting involved with Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). A SHPE DC chapter member came to GW and spoke to a few students about the professionalism and unity that SHPE encourages. Towards the end of last semester, I attended the SHPE Regional Leadership Development Conference. It was my first SHPE event, so I was not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great experience. The conference provided students and professionals with the opportunity to network with each other and company recruiters. I attended several workshops held by leading companies in the industry such as BlackRock, Solar Turbines, NSA, and Turner Construction. Each workshop was either centered on careers, leadership skills, technical skills, or advanced academia. One of the most important concepts I learned was to develop my own “personal brand” as an engineer in the industry. To do this, I had to self-assess and be fully aware of my strengths and weaknesses. The experience I will accumulate during my career through different projects will also help me to develop my “personal brand” and individualize me as an engineer. I look forward to applying what I learned to my future endeavors. The final event of the conference was the career fair, which was attended by about twenty companies and ten graduate school admissions representatives.

By Mausam Trivedi
Mausam Trivedi Career Ambassador