Hello! I’m Robby Bell, and I have been interning at Ryan Incorporated Southern in Deerfield Beach, Florida, for the past three summers. Ryan Inc. Southern is a construction company that specializes in earthwork and underground utilities on residential, commercial, and industrial sites all over South Florida. For the first two years, I trained under a head estimator, learning how to create take-offs and proposals from sets of plans. This past summer, however, my role changed and I began reporting to a project manager. My responsibilities included working alongside clients and employees to make sure projects were completed in a timely fashion and that field workers were happy. This new role was a significant change from what I was used to, but it broadened my understanding of the fields of engineering and construction, while also pushing me to develop the business and social skills necessary for interacting with both clients and colleagues.

Since childhood, I have had a love for engineering, design, and construction. Whether I was playing Legos or crafting a city for my Hot Wheels to populate, building felt integral to my personality. Since then, my interest in engineering and construction has only grown. By middle school, I was designing floorplans of “dream houses,” and in high school I was taking as many math and science courses as I could to prepare myself for an eventual major in Engineering. After my freshman year of college, I began interning at Ryan Southern to gain experience and determine if I would actually enjoy the career I had hoped for since I was little. Not surprisingly, I loved it. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but I quickly caught on and began to look at two-dimensional plans as three-dimensional sites. I learned how to create 3-D models of the plans using computer programs like AutoCAD and AGTEK. These first two summers helped assure me that civil engineering and site development were my passions and that I had to pursue them.

However, when Ryan asked me to return this past summer, they had new plans for me. They wanted me to work under a project manager in order to gain a fuller understanding of the construction process from start to finish. Naturally, at first I was unsure about this. Estimating was something I had enjoyed the past two years and felt comfortable doing. Suddenly, though, I was thrust into a situation where knowledge wasn’t enough; I also needed advanced communication skills. Though I knew the new position would be challenging, I was confident it would give me a better understanding of my field, allow me to shadow and learn from a project engineer who had achieved the goals I one-day hope to achieve, and inform me of my future career choice. I gladly accepted, and have not once regretted my decision.