Whew. I know it’s only February, but it’s been a long year! Do you feel that way sometimes? Or does everything always go as planned? I am sure, more likely than most, it’s the former as opposed to the latter. And you know what? That’s ok.

This sporadic feeling of being overwhelmed makes me think back to a busy time when, seemingly out of the blue, one of my mentors asked me, “Do you know how to eat an elephant?" Seeing how puzzled I was, he quickly responded, “One bite at a time.” And that is what we do as engineers. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, we take small chunks out of the seemingly enormous tasks set out in front of us, until we have fully and completely tackled them and built something with purpose and value.

That is what we plan to do this year with your section, too. We’ve received your input and will be slowly implementing lasting changes in regard to how your section runs. It won’t happen instantaneously, but we will continue to work on these tasks, with your help, until we’ve tackled this elephant together. Next month I will clue you into some of the changes you are going to help us implement.

So, my last little quip… Remember to take it easy on yourself. You are doing a lot. People see the effort you are putting forth. Trust that you will make it to the finish line - even if it doesn’t occur as originally planned. It is easy to get overwhelmed if you forget that. We, your section friends, know you can do it and we are here to help.

Cheers,
Tricia Wolfbauer
ASCE-NCS President, 2023-24