What causes people to pursue a particular area of interest? Nature? Nurture? Some combination of both? 

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. That’s something I leave to more philosophically minded individuals. I’ve always favored the sciences, and while I don’t know for sure what led me down that path, I know that one person had an enormous impact on who I am today: my dad, Scott Kennedy. While my mom was an avid supporter of my interests in science, my dad’s passion for knowledge had such a strong influence on me that I’m not sure I’d be in this field today without him. More than anyone else, my dad was the one who truly fostered my love of math, science, and engineering, and that’s something I can’t thank him enough for.  

The Early Years

One of my earliest memories was back when I was in Kindergarten: I was just starting to notice the world around me and began wondering why things were the way they were. One night at dinner, I asked my dad, “Why is the sky blue?” While he could have easily given a quick and simple answer like “Because the grass is green” or “Because that is how God made it”, he instead spent a good few hours during (and after) dinner learning about why the sky is blue. He explained how different elements will reflect or absorb different colors and how the major elements in our atmosphere reflect the color blue. THAT was why the sky was blue. 

Of course, before he could explain that, he had to explain to me (and my sister) what “elements” were and that different colors were different wavelengths of light, which he did with extreme patience. This was the first of many such conversations we had throughout my childhood. Whether he was helping me understand something I was learning about in school or teaching me that there was logic and order in the universe, he always encouraged our curiosity and answered our questions to the best of his ability.

Odyssey of the Mind

As I grew up, not only did my father continue to encourage my curiosity over dinner conversations, but he also signed up to be a coach for an Odyssey of the Mind competition, which I also decided to participate in. My team decided to do the challenge of building a structure out of balsa wood, which had a height and weight limit and had to be able to be disassembled and then reassembled at the competition. 

During that year, we had many meetings with the team in our basement, learning the basics of structural design and experimenting with different types of structures. This competition was when I first discovered my passion for designing and building things. I loved putting things together and seeing how well your designs hold up to loads. One of the structures we built held up to 100lbs, and while the one we brought to the event didn’t quite hold up (craft store balsa wood sticks don’t have the most consistent material strength), it was still so exciting seeing something I’d helped design and build be put to the test. 

6th Grade Egg Drop

A few years after the Odyssey of the Mind competition, I had a school assignment in science class to build a structure that could protect a regular egg when dropped off a 3rd story window (I honestly forget what unit this was related to in the science class). My dad acted as a sounding board, helping with a very creative solution. He was also my biggest cheerleader during the day of the egg drop, even helping out some. It was a great experience, and I still believe that our idea would have worked great… if someone else hadn’t dropped their egg on top of mine. 

I’m not still bitter about it. 

Even with that last-minute setback, the project furthered my interest in basic structural design and how forces (like impact loads) affect a structure, and how to best absorb these forces.

High School into College

By the time I got to high school, I was solidly into math and science and was taking all the advanced courses I could. Again, my dad not only encouraged this, but would also stay up with me on long nights while I did my math homework.

He was very patient with me: he lent a sympathetic ear, allowed me to have my breakdowns, and was understanding when I was obviously struggling. But he NEVER just gave me the answer, he NEVER let me quit, and (most importantly) he NEVER made me feel like I was struggling with the topic because I was a girl. I was struggling because it was tough, and there was no shame in that. 

Finally, as high school was wrapping up, he was a huge help when I was looking at colleges and deciding on my major. I knew I wanted to do something with the design of buildings, so I naturally thought of Architecture first, but that was too artistic for me. After a lot of research and consideration, he suggested that I look into Structural Engineering, and we both agreed that it was a perfect fit. I found my university, selected my major, and the rest is history! 

Who I Am Today

To this day I am so grateful for my dad’s support throughout my life to explore the world of math and science. He continues to be incredibly supportive of my career and is always a great person to discuss the technical side of engineering with. 

Without this wonderful man, I would not be the person I am today, and I hope to inspire other young girls to pursue math and science the same way that he helped inspire me.