“My liberal arts degree empowers me to say, ‘I’m not totally sure how this thing works, but I am totally capable of figuring it out.’”
Major/minor: Geography major, Religion minor
Lives in: Burlington, VT
What work looks like: “I work with cities and towns to develop multimodal transportation plans that address issues around safety, accessibility, and sustainability. The work itself varies day-to-day and includes collecting and analyzing traffic data, working with municipal officials and the public to inform our transportation studies, creating surveys and maps for projects and plans, and more.”
What she loves about it: “The thing I love most about my job is working with people in Chittenden County to plan for transportation systems that positively contribute to their community’s quality of life, economy, and public health. I fell in love with Vermont when I came to UVM as a student and it is so important to me to give back to this place by working in the public sector.”
What she gained from a liberal arts education: “The most important skills I gained are critical thinking, communication, and problem solving. I’ve needed all three to succeed professionally since graduating, but problem solving has been the most crucial for me recently. Innovations in data collection, analysis, and more in the transportation planning field mean things are constantly changing, and being able to research and teach myself how these technologies work has been invaluable. To sum it up, my liberal arts degree empowers me to say, ‘I’m not totally sure how this thing works, but I am totally capable of figuring it out.’”