From a Tech Today article October 26, 2012
Andrea Walvatne, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at Michigan Tech, is the national grand prize winner in the annual Stilettos to Steel Toes essay contest, sponsored by Schlumberger and endorsed by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Schlumberger is a leading international oilfield services provider.
The contest invites women engineering students to write short essays examining “Where will your shoes take you?,” explaining why a nontraditional job is the way to go.
The grand prize winner receives a $2,000 scholarship and an expense-paid trip to the SWE 2012 national conference in Houston in November, where she will read her essay.
In Michigan Tech’s SWE section, Andrea Walvatne’s essay placed first, winning $1,000; Britta Anderson’s took second place and a $500 prize, and Kimberly D’Augustino’s essay placed third, receiving $250.
Here is Andrea’s grand prize essay:
“My shoes can take me anywhere. Whether it is high heels to a business meeting, steel toes to a construction site, sneakers for the gym, or hiking shoes on the trails. My interests are as varied as my shoes. They range from donning snowboarding boots for the hill to sliding into slippers and curling up with a good book. But the worn gray high-tops are what I wear most of the time. Sitting in classrooms and labs getting an education in this field is a career choice most women would not pursue. I like to do things a little more non-traditionally. Like walking around the jungle in rural Panama in my hiking sandals, collecting data for a micro-hydro power project for my senior design. Or choosing a school where I need to wear insulated boots to walk to class through drifts of snow most of the year. I walk through the drifts to become an engineer, a job that requires a lot of intelligence, creativity, and determination. Not everyone can fill the shoes of this position. Engineers need to be adaptable and able to wear different kinds of shoes to succeed in a variety of positions. They also need to understand their customers and be able to wear their shoes. In a few months I will be walking across a stage in my black flats and planning many new experiences this accomplishment can achieve. My college life may be ending, but my feet are not tired enough to stop yet. There are still some shoes in my closet that have not been worn. I want to wear my brown boots all around Europe, my silver flats in the bright cities of Asia, and my slip-ons in small communities in Africa and South America. I want to visit all the strange and beautiful places in this world. I want to learn from the people and how I can help them as an engineer. I want to make a difference. Then when I have accomplished this, I will get some new high-tops and see how far they will take me.”