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May
22, 2004, 16S:
Special Commencement Issue
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Bechtel
Achievement Award: Emery
Sanford, ME
Bechtel
Engineering Scholarship:
Austin Minnich, Eng. Science
Departmental
Citation Winners:
Ryan Doan, BioE
Sarah Gidding, CEE
Kevin Simler, EECS
Olivia Or, Eng. Science
Anthony Paganini, IEOR
Priam Pillai, MSE
Matt Panzer, ME
Ryan Hannink, NE
Other
Departmental Awards
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Photo
by Nick Lammers
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Civil and
Environmental Engineering Citation: Sarah Giddings
The same thing that has helped Sarah Giddings succeed has prevented her
from pursuing her dream job as an artist or graphic designer.
“There is a voice inside me that doesn’t let me fail. It’s
not a competitive thing, but I just won’t do something unless I can
do it well and to the end,” she says.
While she doesn’t feel like she has the innate talent and creativity
to succeed in the competitive art world, she is happy to pursue her other
passions, such as environmental engineering and teaching. She aspires
to be a college professor.
“I get immense satisfaction from teaching and believe that education
is one of the most important things you can give someone. I want to share
my excitement for learning with others,” she says.
Sarah’s research experience with CEE Professors Robert Harley and
Mark Stacey influenced her choice to pursue a Ph.D. and was the most rewarding
learning experience she had at Cal.
Next year she is continuing her academic journey at Stanford University,
where she will study environ- mental engineering with an emphasis on environmental
fluid mechanics and hydrology.
In the meantime, the December graduate is out in the workforce getting
a taste of the nine-to-five. She is working at an environmental engineering
consulting firm, Stetson Engineers, doing data analysis.
Sarah didn’t have any shock transitioning from the student life to
the professional world. The six-month co-op she did at the Alameda County
Water District prepared her well for a real job.
“They gave me a surprising amount of responsibility for a student.
I got to design and analyze my own full-scale tests. I also worked at
the plant and dealt with maintenance workers. It was a great learning
experience,” she says.
Sarah says she also learned some valuable lessons at Berkeley that will
help her deal with tough situations in her career and personal life. The
independence that Berkeley requires was good for her, she says.
“I learned how to figures things out on my own. Now if I need something,
I know how to go out there and get it.”
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