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Platform Chats
Platform Chats
The Next Generation in Railroad
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In this episode, Walt chats with Jaclyn Whelan (Conrail) and Skylar Leach (Amtrak) two young professionals who are eager to share their unique perspectives on joining the rail industry and AREMA. Along the way, they discuss their hopes for the future and the feeling of walking into a committee meeting alone for the first time. Yes, TikTok will be mentioned but don’t judge. These young professionals appreciate the railroad and are excited for what comes next. Meet the next generation of railroaders, these are two names you will surely hear in the future.
And if you want to have lasting contributions to your community and kind of the world, get a job in rail. I mean, I uh walking around the property, you see the lumber cars, the automotive cars, your intermodal, and there's all these things impact people and people are going to use them in their everyday life or in some capacity in having a job in rail, you really get to have a lasting impact on people.
SPEAKER_01You may know the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, or AREMA, as the quote, keepers of the manuals. You may know them as the quote, people behind the largest annual railroad conference in North America. Heck, you may not know about AREMA at all. This podcast is designed, no pun intended, to change your view of who AREMA is and how AREMA has changed the trajectory of many railway careers over its 100-plus year history. Welcome to Platform Chats with your host, Walt Letzer, where he takes a moment to discuss the impacts AREMA has had on the very people who are proud to be called members. Are you ready to roll with AREMA?
SPEAKER_00ARE Corporation is a proud supporter of AREMA and Platform Chats. If you are looking to take your Railway Structure's career to the next level, or simply start it down the right track, please visit us at ARECorp.com. Please see our brand new job postings on our careers page or on our LinkedIn page.
SPEAKER_02If you are at home purging through season one, well, God bless you. Thank you for listening to all those back to back to back. I don't even think I could do that. That said, today on the podcast, uh, well, to be honest with you guys, I kind of feel old. Uh for the longest time, I have been the youngest guy in every committee meeting, uh, in every meeting for my job. Um, but now as I cross the great plain of 40, I look down to my friends that are in their 20s and 30s and think, wow, I am older than I thought. Um, but hey, before I introduce my two guests, uh, that was a little tease, but before I get there, I do want to give a quick update. We have moved into the top 10 of the world's uh top 25 best railway industry podcasts. So we are number nine. You know, number 10 is uh right behind us, but we have moved up the charts quickly in one year, and I think if we keep at it, we're gonna get towards the top. Especially if we continue to have content like we have today. Today I have two guests, both who started their careers in 2013. Uh one, Miss Jacqueline Whalen, and two, Mr. Skylar Leach. Jacqueline currently works for Conrail. When I met her, she was with, I believe, Jacobs or AECOM. I will let her do a brief introduction here in a second. She's currently a project manager with Conrail, and Skylar is currently with Amtrak. He's been with Amtrak his entire career, both of which, uh, I guess we are we are going right into the heart of the Northeast. So we've got Northeast Corridor, um, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia area folks on the podcast, which will be fun. Love the energy that comes out of that part of the country. Uh, slightly biased since my family's from there, but regardless, I'd like to start quickly, uh, ladies first, because I'm that friendly of a guy, Jacqueline. Why don't you do a quick intro of kind of where you went to school, uh how you got into the industry, and finish up on what that's obvious to me you're quite active in Arima, but you know what all activities you do in Arima, and then we'll move on to Skylar.
SPEAKER_03Certainly. Uh, first off, thanks for having me and inviting me to be a part of the podcast. I did binge the first season, so made it through just fine. It's not too bad. Uh, but yeah, I'm the currently the project manager of design for ConRail here in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Uh, in my role, I review and approve capital, customer, and third-party projects that affect our property. And I graduated from Drexel in 2013 with my Bachelor's of Science in Civil, focusing in structural engineering. And then in 2018, I graduated with a master's in civil engineering, also concentrating in structures. Uh, I did the master's part-time while working full-time, so that was super fun. Um and yeah, I'm pretty heavily involved in AREMA. I serve on two committees, uh Committee 15 for steel structures and committee 10 for structures maintenance and construction. I also serve as a chair for a new publication that's currently under development between AREMA Committee 15 and the National Steel Bridge Alliance for design and fabrication of steel railroad bridges. And then outside of AREMA, I also serve as the director of chapter relations for women's transportation seminar, a Philadelphia chapter. So very, very active in multiple areas.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it does not sound like you have a lot of free time, uh, but we appreciate it. I'll tell you that right now. And I will I think you left something out. I was reading part of your bio, and you You are married with two pet plants.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_02Do they have names?
SPEAKER_03Uh so I have a Drusenia here in the office that I named Drew, and then at home I have a pathos that I've named Mary after my grandmom since it was her plant.
SPEAKER_02Ah, perfect.
SPEAKER_04That is I love the alliterations, I'm telling you.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah. I'll tell you what, right now, folks, uh, luckily I get to see these people as we record these podcasts. And uh Skylar is one of these gentlemen that has a contagious smile, contagious laugh. So you might hear some of that on the podcast today. Skylar with Amtrak, why don't you give us a rundown?
SPEAKER_04Oh man, you already like ruined my intro. That's how I was gonna start. Um, so good afternoon, everyone. Um, my name is Skylar Leach. Um, as was stated, I've been with Amtrak since I was an intern in 2013. Uh graduated from Temple University, so more Northeast, so go owls. Uh, I know we struggle with football and basketball, and well, we might be doing good in basketball right now. But um, so I started as, like I said, an intern and um grew to be a management associate upon graduation uh with the track department. Um, worked in DC for a little bit, watched in terminal crew, uh, then moved to the high-speed servicing gang with the track production after about a year, uh, then moved into becoming a uh system track engineer, uh, where I stayed working with high-speed surfacing, uh, doing the scoping and planning. And I've had the pleasure to work with folks like Amanda Kessler, who had to leave on a meeting to jump on here. So hopefully Amanda forgives me. Um and then moved uh recently last year, moved to standards and specifications, uh working with special track work and primarily with concrete ties um and all those systems that are involved with that. Um so had a lot of time around track. Uh, I love track. I don't like going up high, so no B B and B. Uh, and I don't like things that are moving. I like things on the ground. So um, as for Rima involvement, uh, you can blame Joe Smock for this one. He's the one that told me as an intern that I need to be involved. He said, Don't worry, as soon as you get involved, as soon as you walk through the door, you're gonna be volunteered for stuff, and here I am. So uh thanks. Yes, yep.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and Joe was uh previous president, so we appreciate him pushing the young people to get involved. And uh, so just so anyone out there that is keeping track, yes, we do have another structures person on here. I am not overly biased towards the structures people because we balanced it today with a track person. So I know that there's engineers listening to this going, man, does this guy just interview structures people? Inaccurate. Um so Jacqueline, there's no bias there. All right, both of you, both both of you are on Meet the Next Generation, which is a panel discussion that's held at the Arima Annual Conference. Now it's my I I honestly don't know much about this. This came about in 2006. So at that time I'd already been in the industry for a few years. Um and I know I think it's for people that are under 10 years of experience. So I'd love to hear how each of you uh kind of became a part of that. And um, since it looks like just so we're clear, I'm sorry, Skylar, you are on committees 17 and 41. Okay, and Jacqueline, I heard 10 and 15. So neither of you are on 24. And I believe this is a brainchild of 24. So who wants to go first here on Meet the Next Generation?
SPEAKER_03I can certainly go first. Uh I remember uh seeing the Meet the Next Generation panel when I attended the ARIMA conference in, I believe it was 2019, and was really curious about it. Um how do they pick the people who gets to be on this? Um obviously I love being involved and uh getting involved in Meet the Next Generation definitely aligned with stuff I like to do. Um and uh one of the managers at Acom, Alana Strohhecker, had actually recommended me as a panelist for the conference last year, and that's ultimately how I got involved, as they thought, I guess from her recommendation that I'd be a great fit to be on the panel with my experiences, and it kind of grew from there.
SPEAKER_02And so, Skyler, what is the what is the panel? Um, what what maybe someone could can give me a brief overview as if you're talking to someone that has no idea what you're talking what what I'm talking about here.
SPEAKER_04Uh so yes, um basically last year uh they get a few uh I forget how many of us were five or six of us uh together to just discuss like what we're doing here, discuss our experiences, how we got involved, basically gather the morale, or not morale, gather the interest from the younger members. Uh I remember when I first heard about Meet the Uh Next Generation was actually from one of the virtual conferences. It was purely virtual. Um well, I have to like remember dates now. COVID makes everything hard. Um I was gonna say the uh was it 2020 or 2019? Whenever COVID started, and we all went virtual, they had the virtual meet the uh next generation. And I had the same questions of Jack, well, how do they think these people? Like, how do they, you know, all these young people, I didn't even know we were out there like that and involved in that type of way. I I mean I knew about Arima, I was on my committees, but you know, there's a whole segment for younger people. Um and that actually led me to, I listened, of course, um, and Blanca was the moderator. Um, and she made the point at the end to say, you know, she didn't see a lot of engineers that looked like her, you know. And I didn't realize that I was the same way. I'm sure Jackie, you know, you too, you know, women in engineering is so scarce, you know. So when she said that, I said, you're right. I didn't get exposures to someone that actually kind of looked like me until I got to college. And I'm like, well, I have to be involved in this now. Like she made this a point. I'm going to figure out how I can be involved. Um, I did miss a little tidbit. I did get the next generation the uh next generation uh young person experience in 2019. So I was able to go in person and then everything shut down. So 2020 is when I found out about Meet the Next Generation panel. So a little bit of two different things there.
SPEAKER_02So did were were you guys panelists in 2021? So like last fall? Yes on the virtual so you both were so did you field questions from young people?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was a mix. We had some kind of pre-arranged questions that we felt comfortable with, and then uh people were allowed to ask questions throughout the course of the panel via the chat feature, and then the moderate uh Blanca uh fed us those questions so that we can provide answers.
SPEAKER_02And I'm probably gonna butcher this, but I do I did read that it's Blanca Obergon from Trans Systems and Calvin Nutt who actually helped really make uh this program quite useful. And I I can read this here. Um Blanca's welcome script to the event is the event is tailored to give students the opportunity to learn about the railway industry and make meaningful connections as they enter the workforce. During the panel discussion, five panelists from various areas of the railway industry with different years of experience but under 10 years discuss the project types that they had worked on, including the tracks they traveled, which define their career paths, and then they take questions from attendees about what it's really like to work in the rail industry and what they can expect. So this really is tailored to someone that's just coming out of school or potentially still in school. Did either of you attend a REMA as a student? Like the big conference? No. Okay, I'm seeing some podcast land. All right. Neither of you did.
SPEAKER_03I actually didn't really I guess foresee a railroad career until after I graduated. It's really funny because I ran I rode SEPTA in high school to get downtown for stuff. Like I had been about around the railroad, um, but never, I guess, visioned it that uh visioned the people that actually operate it and maintain it. And so when I was in college, I won a scholarship through women's transportation seminar, and that really um jumped start my career specifically in transportation, and then uh my first job out of school was as a uh structural engineer for the railroad. So that's how I really got tied into it.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so yeah, you don't have the lifelong career where your great-grandfather worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad and this is in your blood. Um, because I think Ed Sparks, uh, if you listen to him, somehow his lineage goes all the way back to uh the Transcontinental Railroad, but I think he's lying. Uh Skylar, how about you? Same thing, or did you what pushed you towards track and amtrak and the whole nine yards?
SPEAKER_04Okay, so I'm gonna preface this by saying I am not a foamer. Um I'm not like a rail nut, you know, but as a child, I always loved like Thomas the Tank Engine. And I love trains, you know. I didn't have models and all that kind of stuff, but I've always known since high school, like I want to go work for transit train something. Um, so when I was in college, uh Amtrak was at our career fair at Temple. So, you know, I knew I'm gonna go to that table. And the recruiter that was for Amtrak, she was a tough person to like crack. Like, that was like, if you could get in with Ms. Wanda, Miss Wanda Parker Smith, I'll never forget Miss Wanda. If you can, like, my whole idea was if I I met her one time, she said, get more experience. I said, Okay. So I got internship and I said, I know what I gotta make Miss Wanda laugh. I gotta like get in there so that she can like like me. So like it was my mission when I saw her again to like get her to laugh and be like, okay, this kid is okay. Um, but then I also learned that you, you know, you can go the other route and meet more people. So uh that was one method, and then you know, I actually met the four aforementioned Amanda Kessler at a young members forum for ASCE, and they have a winter social. And I walk up to her because I saw she had Amtrak on her on her name tag, and I just go, You work for Amtrak? I love trains. And if anyone knows Amanda, if you've ever interviewed Amanda or met her, her response will make plenty of sense. She goes, What? I love trains too. And literally, and that turns out to be my manager in the future. Um, so I can definitely uh thank Amanda Kessler and Miss Wanda Parker Smith for getting me into Amtrak. Because that's as far as I know, I'm probably the first person. I have an uncle who worked for Metro North, but you know, not you know, uncle from, you know, but um not anything that goes back to the Transcontinental Railroad. No, nothing like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay, fair enough. So yeah, I do like how you preface that you're not a foamer, but then you said I love trains. I counted three times uh during that. I I I I think you might want to look in the mirror there. Uh and think about that again. So, okay, so you had a chip on your shoulder. You meet this this lady at a at a career fair, we've all been to those, and you're like, I'm gonna crack this lady and I'm gonna get into this industry. So now you're here. And and now you've been here for what looks like around nine years or so, right? So, give or take, are you loving it?
SPEAKER_04Oh no, I hate every moment of it. No, I I really do, you know, even on the tough days, you know, you're like, oh man, I want to go home, I want to, you know, make a drink and just be done with it. Uh maybe I should go build houses, but then like, you know, after a minute, you're like, but you know what? I love this stuff. You know, like I love the problem solver. I've always been a problem solver. So, you know, being involved with, you know, the future of the railroad, especially during this time period where we're getting investment, record investment, you know, that's huge to be a part of. And to be young and be a part of it, like all the old timers joke, well, you guys are gonna retire off of this money. Like, you guys are gonna be using this money for the rest of your career. Um, and then as you progress and you get more, you know, more issues, more responsibilities, it just makes you see that you are actually gonna be a part of the future of the railroad in, you know, not just the northeast, but over the entire like network around and uh across the nation. So I think that's what keeps me going every day.
SPEAKER_02I I I am so glad you said that. Uh, I teach a course in um railroad bridge design, I've been doing since 2006, and we talk a lot about just the significance of the industry, right? So, you guys, both of you are the heart of a lot of passenger trades. I I'm out here in Denver, right? So we've got we have we actually have a quite a good little system in Denver, but I say you just got the airport line a few years ago. Yeah, the airport line. Uh, I mean, that's exciting. I mean, it's not exactly Boston to DC on a high-speed train, uh, but yeah, we got the airport line. Thank you. But it's just the significance of, you know, when people talk about railroads and they like you mentioned Thomas the tank engine. I've got a funny story about that, but it you know, the reality is you're you feel like you're part of something. Like you can walk outside after work and see the trains go by and be like, hey, I'm I'm I am helping with that. I am participating in this economy, right? You see the infrastructure built, you see what's going on with the spend coming from DC, and I and I guarantee you you're like, hey, I'm that's that's me, right? Like that's kind of a I talked to a lot of young people and they just say, How do I get involved in something where I can see the results of what I'm doing? So and that's where I'm gonna switch right over to you, Jacqueline. So you you worked as a consultant, which you followed a similar path as of many, which that's kind of how I got exposed to the industry uh before I dovetailed in other things. And then now you're with the owner side. So take it, take anything I or Skylar just said and and expand as you wish.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, one thing I feel is I feel so much more connected to the railroad now working for the owner. Uh, in my previous positions as working as a structural engineer, I was sitting at my desk doing the drawings, doing the calculations, and I do love that part of engineering and um making things come to life. But then coming to the owner side and actually facilitating it being constructed and then going out there and seeing it be built and then seeing it go into operation is really a gratifying experience. Um I know it's I always joke with my friends that are on the highway side where they get to design lots of stuff, but they don't really see much get built, or it takes a long time to get built. Where I had a project where we got notice to proceed. On 30% design in July. It was put out to bid in like September or October, and they had shuttles in the ground in December. So with the railroad, it's it's it gets done, which is always great to see.
SPEAKER_02It does. And I think the term since you're on the bridge side of the world, accelerated bridge construction always made me laugh.
SPEAKER_03Oh, because we've been doing it for ages.
SPEAKER_02That's pretty much what the railroad's done since as well. Ed Sparks and the Transcontinental Railroad. I really, that's two plugs here. And I if I don't get a text or email from him, I'm gonna be very disappointed because I'll know he's not listening. Um sorry, Ed. So all right, Skylar, let's let's go back to I I love the energy you had around um the infrastructure bill, etc. Um if you were going to go out tonight to a cocktail party, okay, let's just not a bar, but a cocktail party, something a little more formal. And someone said, Skylar, what is it that you do for a living? What what is your elevator speech to someone that you just met?
SPEAKER_04Oh, I'm ready for this because my girlfriend's dad asked me this, and I had he was like, make me understand what you do, because it's so hard to explain to non-rail people what you do. Um, so essentially when I told him, Well, I am in charge with making sure, well, charge, part of a team that makes sure that the train runs smoothly. That's basically track geometry, that's basically you know, ties, that's turnouts, that's all that special track work. If the train runs smoothly and you don't know who I am, you're in good shape. Um originally, I I've known like I'm surfacing. I love surfacing. Um that's what I came in basically doing at first in my Amtrak career. So the whole idea of track geometry is you have straight track that zero, everything's zero, no cross-level, no alignment issues, just straight zero. We have machines that take care of that when the track does come out of zero on tangents, on curves, you have set super elevation. I'm going deep into track geometry here. I'm appeasing to those people who want to hear about track, and I'm proud of it. Um making sure the super elevation and curvature is the way that it's designed to be, if there are designs. Um, and now adding the extra element of when you go over a turnout, that it also remains smooth and that all the components work together. Um, I think that that description worked pretty well because my girlfriend's dad seemed to shake his hand while we were grilling, and he seemed, okay, I get it. And I said, Most of the work that you do you can't do during the day. He goes, because the trains are running. I said, Yes. You know, so most of the time you have to go out at night. So we're out there at night making sure things are going the way they're they're supposed to go, so that in the morning you have a smooth ride from Philly to New York on your commute.
SPEAKER_02So absolutely. So, yeah, so if you don't feel anything, then you did your job. Right. All right, your turn, Jaclyn. Let's let's go to that same party. You're in a different corner, and some guy comes up to you and says, What do you do for a living? What do I do? Gotta hear it.
SPEAKER_03I work for the railroad.
SPEAKER_02Ah, you work for the railroad? Okay, so I'm gonna and I'll be the I'll I'll be the devil's advocate here that I've heard at real at the same parties is I had no idea railroads still existed.
SPEAKER_03I it's really funny. I actually had uh a few months ago, I had someone come up to me and say, I didn't even know Conrail was still around. Like, we are we're still here.
SPEAKER_02It's nothing quite like uh it was at one time. That is for dungeons.
SPEAKER_03But uh Indeed. That the history lessons for another day.
SPEAKER_02That is for another day. Uh and that's probably not for this podcast. That that is a different podcast. So Yeah, I go ahead and now that we got that out of the way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um kind of as I said at the beginning, my role is uh review and approval of capital, customer, and third-party projects. Capital projects include some significant bridge replacement projects, uh, expansion of yards, additional tracks, um, kind of anything that falls under that purview, customer projects being um waste management or any um people we service if they want to update their line or add to their sidetrack that comes through my group for review and acceptance before they can build it. And then third-party projects being your turnpikes, your New Jersey transit, your Amtrak, kind of any other owner that has infrastructure around our property. Uh, anything they want to do has to come through my department for review and approval. And then I have a whole field staff as well that supports those projects through construction to make sure everything's being done safely and our operations aren't compromised.
SPEAKER_02Perfect. I think that would pass the Skyler Leach girlfriend's father test, too.
SPEAKER_04Do you agree, Skyler? Yeah, that was really good. I'm like jealous. I should have gone second. What am I doing? Sorry about that. I'll I'll go first for the introductions.
SPEAKER_03You can go first for the elevators.
SPEAKER_04You got the ladies first. I can't just step everywhere, otherwise, I'll just keep talking.
SPEAKER_02That's right. I understand. Well, I can tell you both that uh oh years ago, I think it was probably 2000. Well, I'm not even gonna put a number on it, but my wife and I were at a holiday party, and for her firm, uh, she's an attorney, and so we're wandering our way through this, you know, ballroom, and we walk to walk up to this couple and oh hey, how's it going? I'm such and such, and then the gentleman goes, So what do you do? And I just say, Well, you know, I'm I'm in the rail industry. The rail industry, huh? And then this wife, like, without batting an eye, just says, My kids love Thomas the Train. Oh, do you work with Thomas? And it was straight as an arrow, and I looked at her and I said, Every day. That's amazing. Every day. I also sometimes see Percy. Percy? Is that the night shift guy? I don't know. I've got a two-year-old, so I'm starting to get into this stuff. But anyway, all right, so as we are, boy, this this one is going off the rails. Uh let's talk about bringing things full circle here back to this uh Meet the Next Generation and just talking to young people. And uh, you know, I think if young people were listening to this, they would be inspired at least a little bit to to further pursue an industry or a career in this industry. So, all right, we're gonna do this again. Uh, this time, who wants to go first? Put a hand up if I can look here. Okay, sorry, Skylar has volunteered to go first. All right, Skylar, you now are in Miss Wanda's shoes at that career fair. And a young man just came up to you and has no clue about the rail industry. He's in civil engineering, let's just say. Um, what are you gonna tell him in in under 60 seconds about what why should he come to Amtrak?
SPEAKER_04Well, first of all, I'm gonna tell this young man you don't come to a career fair table without having done any research on the company that you're applying to. So take that, kids. Make sure you know where you're going at a career fair because you don't want to waste your time, you don't want to waste the interviewer's time. So that tells you kind of recruiter I am. Amtrak is a tough place to work. Jeez. But honestly, what I would tell them is, you know, try to think outside of the way that you think uh in college, because what you know, a lot of people think is, well, I'm a mechanical engineer, so I need to go work on the trains themselves. I'm a civil engineer, so that means I'm not gonna do anything with ET, you know, with the wires. And it's like, well, no, you know, you have to remember the wire is sitting on top of a structure, you know. And no, just because you're mechanical doesn't mean that you can you don't belong in the track department because another one of my you know favorite people and one of my ex-you know one of my mentors, ex-managers, Michael Kraft, he worked in vehicle dynamics, he did vehicle modeling, he worked in the track geometry group because about the wheel and rail interface and interaction. That's a part of the track group, which kids would consider well civil. Well, no. We have a few mechanical engineers that work there. Um, you know, of course, you have your bridge and buildings, which is generally civil, but you know, it's the railroad is a good crossroad of all the disciplines interacting together. So try to think outside the box. You know, if you're a mechanical engineer and you were interested in bridges, well, we have movable bridges. It's mechanical and civil together. You know, geotech, we have we have it all. So, you know, one, not so harsh, but you know, tell me what interests you, and then I can tell you about your different options. Bring me your weekend masses. I, you know, I forget how that speech goes.
SPEAKER_02No, I I agree with that. That's actually a really good answer. Uh, because you're right, it's it's not you kind of get exposed to a whole bunch of of different things. And all right, Jacqueline, you get to follow that.
SPEAKER_03Oh boy. Um, I mean, if someone came up to me and asked me what the best things are with the career in the rail industry, I would first have to say the people. Um the people that I work with are super passionate and are really dedicated to the work that they do every day. I would say if you want a career in rail, you have to be a team player because we work with so many different departments, whether it be the maintenance of weight team, our communication and signal team, our real estate team, our lawyers, our everybody has a hand in getting projects done on the railroad. And if you want to have lasting contributions to your community and kind of the world, get a job in rail. I mean, I uh walking around the property, you see the lumber cars, the automotive cars, your intermodal, and there's all these things impact people and people are gonna use them in their everyday life or in some capacity, and having a job in rail, you really get to have a lasting impact on people.
SPEAKER_02That's a great statement. Yeah, I I think it's uh it's cool because a lot of these projects, some are long, right? Uh when I was a younger man, uh one of the big projects we worked on was the Amtrak Thames River Bridge up there near New London Groton, right? On the high-speed rail corridor. Um it was a bascule bridge that we replaced with a vertical lift. And uh, you know, I was like four or five years out of school, and I'm like, man, this is taking forever. This is like a three or four-year project. Um little did I know, that was actually quite quick. And now every time I've been in the area, I stop and go look at it, and it's pretty cool, right? You can show your kids, you can show your wife. Well, actually, anyone that's willing to listen, uh, I can talk about it, which that's a probably a pretty small pool of people, but yes, you are you do get to work on things that you know for the rest of your life you can talk about. And and I feel like there's a big I keep coming back to this, but I I do feel like you're participating in in creating something. Or you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03It's really funny because my husband is also an engineer who works for an owner, and um, we have very fun dinner conversations about the projects that we work on, and um yeah, just being able to kind of drive around and say, I worked on that, and I was a part of that makes it a really gratifying career.
SPEAKER_02Well, Skylar said he loves training so many times that I think you might want to have him over for dinner.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, I was gonna say, right? We didn't do happy hour. What is this? That's that's a talk of what I want to bring up. Um, but I um, you know, I was piggybacking off of the you know family dinner. I think my favorite thing is like the impact on your family. Oh my goodness gracious, my mom has turned into the one of the biggest train people I've ever seen. She's just like, she took a trip from Philly to New York. We're originally from New York, so she went up there one day to visit my my great-grandmother, and she's passing all the wayside equipment. Oh my goodness gracious. She's like, she sees, oh, I think I see that tamper you're talking about. That's what my son deals with that, you know. Oh, and I saw the test car. It said I was like, mom, did you? She goes, Yeah, I saw. And then I saw all the stone trays and the switches, and she's just like adamant. She's like adamant about like getting on the geometry car. She's like, I want to get on the geometry car and wear my boots and and watch with the I'm just like, Mom, like, like who works for the railroad, me or you? And she goes, Well, you got the connect, you should make it happen. Uh of course, with the whole I want a seller ticket conversation, too, which I can't even get those.
SPEAKER_03So that's my husband found the NS TikTok. So anytime anytime he sees an NS TikTok, he always has to show me. Which I appreciate.
SPEAKER_04I do appreciate. I can't believe that NS has a TikTok.
SPEAKER_02I would like all the listeners to note that my uh guests mentioned TikTok. I don't have that also, uh like I said, they were they're younger than I am. That's after us.
SPEAKER_04Don't even get me started. We are not Gen Zers. Gen Zers TikTok. I I refuse to download that thing.
SPEAKER_03I don't have it, but my husband does. He keeps me he keeps me in the in the mix.
SPEAKER_02All right, I want to close this thing out with a couple of just quick questions, comments, or stories. I know uh Jacqueline, uh, I heard a funny story that you had mentioned in a previous conversation that when you walked into a committee meeting, it's almost as if the needle went off the record and everyone was like, is that a woman? So go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was uh my first committee meeting for committee 10. And uh I remember it was in Coronado Springs, and I was super nervous. I didn't know what to expect. Um, getting involved in ARIMA was one of the goals my manager had set for me. Um, having been involved with WTS and a lot of professional development, she thought uh more technical committee would be a good fit. So um my partner engineer and I, we there are four structure committees, you take two, I'll take two, and that's kind of how we divvied that up. And then um, so went to my first committee meeting for committee 10, and I was super nervous. I'm like, I don't even know what to wear, just figure it out. And I get there and I think there's like 20 men, and yeah, I walk in and just all the noise stops, hear a pin drop, and I'm just like, oh no. And I'm just like, is this Arima? Everyone's like, oh my god, yes, come, come, can I get you anything? Like, we're so excited you're here. And it took a couple it took a couple more meetings to meet another woman on the committee. Um, but we're there, we're here. Come say hi.
SPEAKER_02Good. That was that is a good story. And Skylar, it looks like you joined a committee, and now someone's locked you into like a nine-year commitment as uh secretary or vice chair.
SPEAKER_04I'm blaming Krista Keene for this one, by the way. She was a vice chair during the time. So I I I think it was like the first uh in-person meeting I went to was in Raleigh, North Carolina. Um, so we go down there, same situation. You walk in, oh young person! That kind of doesn't look like the rest of us. I mean, you know, Jackie, you as a woman, me as, you know, you know, this black kid, you know, this walks into the meeting. And you're thinking, oh, what am I getting into here? But like, you know, as soon as you walk in, everyone's just surrounding talking. We're talking, you know, we're in North Carolina. Again, my family has a complicated great migration story that starts in Carolina, goes to New York. Um, I'm a UNC fan. So instantly we're talking Duke UNC, and oh, you know, football and sports, and you know, and then they like the committee leadership goes, so we're looking for a secretary. And it's just like, you know, no, you know, everyone's been there, done that, we'll just let that go by. I'm like, I'll do it. I'll do it, yeah. Be secretary, you know. It's just like any other one. You do it for a year, you know, you kind of see how you feel, and then you know, if it's not for you, you you, you know, well, that turned into, hey, you know, you just elected to be here for nine years. So yeah, you know, I got in probably about what, three years, two years ago. I'm two years in on a nine-year sentence. So, you know, and they warned me, they were like, hey, you know, like this is a life sentence. There's no escape now, you volunteered. Um, but no, I it's been uh truly a great experience um meeting different people, playing it because we're in the midst of doing our spring conference, which hopefully can be in not conference, spring meetings, uh joint between 11 and 17. Um so hopefully we could do some of that in person. So I'm pitching that. Um lot of good events, potentially a happy hour, as you can tell, wherever we're just like to um party. Is it Taiwan on? What's the expression where it's like you go drink together? But yeah, do that. So yes, we like to network. Ah, sorry, network. Social network limits.
SPEAKER_02Yes, well, I will say that that's good on you for jumping right in like that. And for those that don't know, uh on the committees, typically you start in the secretary position for approximately three years, and oftentimes you can move up if you so choose to vice chair for three years, and then you can be a chair for three years, which is actually honestly it's quite an honorable uh role, you know, to do all of that is uh looked upon by you know not only the people in Arima, but by by your peers and everyone else. It's it's it's a big deal uh in the industry to have been a chair of one of these committees. So good on you, Skyler. I know it's a long one. I I was similarly picked up as a young guy, and I was like, I'll just do the secretary, and next thing you know, they extended my secretary duties to for a total of five years because no one else wanted to do it. So I had five, then three, then three, I think. But man, I'll tell you what, both of you, this has been fun. Um I think this could go on for another hour, and I think our listeners would either really enjoy that or turn it off. I'm not sure which. So in the in the spirit of keeping our listener base, I am gonna shut this down and thank you both uh for coming on the podcast, and I look forward to seeing both of you, hopefully, sometime in person. Jacqueline, are you going to C10 in Memphis?
SPEAKER_03I am not.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03But hopefully that well, I'm going to Committee 15 next week. So I try to alternate so I'm not going to be away from the office uh too many times around the same time.
SPEAKER_02Fair enough. Well, then I'll just say hopefully I will see both of you in Denver next fall. I love Denver, so hopefully for the big uh Arima Committee meeting it was nice to meet you both. Thank you for being on the commit on the podcast, and we'll talk to you soon.
SPEAKER_03Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for rolling with Arima on today's episode of Platform Chats. For further information about Arima, please visit arema.org or contact us at info at arema.org.
