Hallie Turk ’22

Construction Engineering Intern at SECON Southeast Alaska

Major: Civil Engineering

“During my internship, I was assigned to a project at Juneau International Airport. My responsibilities were to track material shipments, perform price-adjustment calculations, and write quality control reports for asphalt laydown. I also entered timecards, logged equipment hours, and administered daily safety inspections. In addition, I was fortunate enough to receive various opportunities in the field collaborating with a professional surveyor, a SWPPP (Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan) inspector, and project consultants.

I applied for this internship because I wanted to learn more about construction and I also wanted to spend a summer in Alaska. On my first day, I knew absolutely nothing about how construction worked. I couldn’t even name basic pieces of heavy construction equipment. Now I know every piece of equipment on my job. I also understand how all of the small parts like surveying, earthwork, material production and processing, and record-keeping are all incredibly important and work together in fascinating ways to create a final product. Most importantly, I learned the importance of teamwork. When you’re part of a team, you don’t just do your job; you also look for ways to make someone else’s job easier. That is why the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The most efficient and highest quality projects have a crew of safe, dedicated, supportive, and hardworking people who motivate each other to do their best.