1. Gaskins 1
Taylor Gaskins
Ms. Lester
Advanced Grammar and Composition
14 March 2012
Senior Speech
Imagine living in a world without bridges, roads or even running water. All of these
things are so common in today’s society that people often forget who is responsible for building
them. A little about me, I am 18 years old, work at the Manor Golf and Country Club, and I am a
diehard Auburn fan. I always knew ever since I was a young child that I wanted to be an
engineer; the problem was that I didn’t know what type I wanted to be until I discovered my
natural skills in engineering back in 2004. When I was in the fourth grade, a few friends and I
decided that we wanted to build a fort to play in.We didn’t know where to get the materials to
build our fort, so we decided to borrow a saw and cut down all the tree limbs in my friend’s back
yard.After all his tree limbs were cut off; we stacked them in a clear spot in the woods.This was
about the point in time we realized that none of us knew how to build a fort.So after trial and
error it was determined that simply leaning them against each other was not going to work,
therefore I came up with the idea of digging a small trench for the outline of the fort and sticking
the limbs in the trench, then filling it back up with the dirt to stabilize them.This almost worked,
the tree limbs were standing up like a wall, but they wouldn’t stay in line with each other.My
solution to this problem was to take the ropes off my friend’s swing set and use them to tie the
limbs together.Finally, after the cost of my friend’s back yard, we had built a fort and began to
play in it until we grew bored of it and tore it down a few days later.This experience was the first
time I realized that I enjoyed thinking problems out and creating my own solutions to them. This
example is but one of many that led to my decision to write my research paper on the
improvements in education, efficacy, and product quality that civil engineers need to focus on in
order to retain their title as a leading engineering force.
My intent in choosing this topic was to learn everything that I could about what it takes to
become a great civil engineer, and to get a better grasp on what the requirements are going to be
in the future. I believe this information will be very beneficial to what I will need to know in my
college career, and it has helped me learn the proper ways on how to begin a project and carry it
out in an efficient and timely manner. Now I’m going to tell you about my project facilitator
William Gleason.
The qualities I was looking for in my facilitator were: experienced knowledge in civil
engineering/ construction, a flexible schedule, and easy to work with. I met Mr. Gleason the first
day I moved to Canton Georgia when he walked over and helped my dad build a ramp to our
moving truck.William Gleason has gainedfirsthand experience in this field by building his
daughter a two story playhouse complete with slide and swings, along with hisback porch

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fromscratch. Thanks to my project facilitator’s open schedule Ihad amble opportunities to plan
out every action that would be needed to complete my project.
I first met with my facilitator in early January, where we designed the tool chest to fit my
car.Once the idea was in our minds we thought out a list of the materials the tool box was going
to require.Then the task became to figure out how to fit the tool box around the gas tank. In my
original design I had the idea to drill a hole through the base of the tool chest and the floor panel
of the car to put a locking pin in to prevent it from sliding around when the cars moving. Then
we began to build the actual box, and the hardest part of the two shorter sides was attaching the
rope handles to make lifting the chest easier. The interesting trick I used with the corners is
called duck tail, were you cut pieces out of the wood using a special blade on the table saw to
allow the wood to lock into place with oneanother. The advantage of this is that the corners will
hold without the use of wood glue. After all four sides had been attached to one another; the next
step was to nail in a small strip of wood on the interior of both side pieces.These provided the
support needed to hold up a smaller, more portable tool box that can be taken out if a break down
on the side of the rode occurs and I need to carry tools to the front of the car.Next, the lid was
constructed out of a piece of maple wood and cut to fit perfectly over the entire tool box.Then
hinges were attached to both the lid and back, to allow the tool box to open easily.Finally, a
wooden pen was placed through the base and the floor of the car. Despite the fact of having a
pre-planned work procedure, problems were still inevitable to occur.
The first problem I came upon was trying to fit the base around the gas tank of the truck.I
fixed this by using a router to cut an arch in the base to fit around the tank.The other major
problem I had was using a paint hammer to get the chain in to stop the lid from opening all the
way.My solution to this problem was to put a piece of wood on the nail and hit it, but
unfortunately the damage had already been done.My several attempts to attach the chain ended
in 3 broken chains and severely dented wood. Thankfully I used a paint hammer, which inflicted
a lot less damage than a regular hammer would.Using my own solutions to problems I was faced
with really gave me a chance to experience what it is like to be an engineer.
In conclusion I feel that the senior project was not a good use of my time.There are many
other things a senior in high school needs to be doing rather than spending months on a literature
project, such as: raising money for college, focusing on other classes, or using available time to
get a job.However, I have learned many things about myself that I wasn’t aware of before this
project.For instance, I have a very positive work ethic for the first couple of hours, but after
about 3 hours of work I begin to lose interest.I came into this assignment knowing that
procrastination was going to be a huge aspect for me to overcome, but with a detailed schedule
with my facilitator I was able to complete my project in a timely and efficient
manner.Unfortunately, my project did not give me a lot of practice in my communication skills
other than telephone conversations and simple emails.If I had a chance to do this project over
again I would definitely choose one that gave me more practice in communication. I have
learned from this assignment that I don’t want to choose civil engineering as my career

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choice.Instead, I aminterested in pursuing anengineering career more focused on engine design
and repair.For my post-secondary education I am attending Southern Polytechnic State
University next semester and studying mechanical engineering.I plan on enlisting in the air force
ROTC program they have in order to help pay for my college education and to give me structure
through school.After two years at SPSU, if I maintain a minimum of a 2.7 GPA and take three
required mechanical engineering courses, I will have a guaranteed acceptance to Georgia Tech’s
aerospace engineering program to finish my education and complete the AFROTC program. I
hope to become a crew chief in the United States air force to design and repair aircraft motors.
Thank You for Your Time
Do you have any questions?