As the College of Technology’s May 2014 graduates complete their time at Purdue, we are profiling a few and finding out their future plans and how they arrived at this point in their lives.
Hilde Thayer, Lafayette, Indiana
Information Technology Career Foundation Program (ITCFP) for The Boeing Company in Charleston, SC
Education
Bachelor’s degree in engineering/technology teacher education, minor in global studies
Job duties
I will be working with a team and as an individual in a customer engagement department where I will work with customers, business partners and IT service providers to support business requirements. I will be trained every year for three years in a different area, and then toward the end of my three rotations, I will be able to choose what area I liked best.
Purdue classes that helped Hilde prepare for her job
- 16-week Student Teaching Experience: Even though I am taking a different route than teaching, it has been a valuable experience where I have gained more knowledge in 16 weeks than I ever imagined. Learning how a school system works by working within a department to reach goals; exploring collaboration methods with my colleagues; and managing a classroom full of sixth, seventh or eighth graders has tested my patience due to the variety of age groups, maturity levels, and learning styles. These lessons will all help me work within a team at Boeing and learn to adapt to everyone’s lifestyle.
- Teach Design & Innovation I/II: Both of these classes challenged me and by the end of the semester I was so proud of what my team had accomplished. They helped improve my time management skills, allowed me to work within a team and collaborate with my peers effectively to reach an end goal.
Other ways the College of Technology and/or Purdue provided preparation and assistance
I was given many different opportunities within the COT and in the TLI department. I have three years of research experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me analyze things very differently than before. I took on leadership roles within our ETTE program with recruiting and coordinating events to conferences. Within the COT I spoke at two forums for all of the incoming freshmen in the COT. Even though some of these experiences do not pertain fully to my job title they definitely prepared and encouraged me to believe that anything is possible.
Thanks go to:
- First and foremost I would like to thank my parents (Terry and Amy Thayer) for their love and support throughout my college experience. They always believed in me, as it took a little longer to find my place at Purdue. I would not be who I am today without them and I hope to work just as hard as they do as I head out into the real world!
- My grandparents and family for providing all the homemade food a girl could want and all the life lessons that were taught to me over the years that I will never forget.
- My ETTE professors (Dr. Rogers, Dr. Mentzer and Dr. Kelley) for all of the opportunities I was given. I am happy that I found our small major as it has been the perfect fit for me!
- Athletics Communications staff, especially Marcia Iles, for employing me through college (even though my concentration had nothing to do with the job requirements) and endless quantities of Puccini’s pizza; it will always reign as the best college job ever!
- My boyfriend, Ross, and friends for all the memories made over the past five years.