Building For The Future
12/15/2020
Now a senior, Emma Helm has been a pillar of Husky Softball her entire career. Thrust into an unexpected starting role as a freshman, Helm has taken on whatever comes her way with a cheery disposition and an excellent approach that embodies the traits that the Husky Softball program teaches.
Helm's work off the field has been just as much an embodiment of excellence. Over the last year, Helm worked an internship with Mortenson Construction, helping to ensure a building project was up to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification standards. Her work “held subcontractors accountable… and will ultimately help the project reach a LEED Silver certification,” said her direct supervisor, Colton Twiddy.
The skills Helm has brought to the field were apparent from day one of her internship. “I was impressed with Emma's attention to detail," said Twiddy. “She was hyper-focused on how processes worked, how things were built, and how different details interacted with each other. Emma's ability to drive tasks to completion was better than any intern I have worked with."
What was your day-to-day like during your internship?
Emma: I got to work at about 6:45 am and started the day with a daily meeting with all the trade partners on-site to go over their tasks, any conflicts, comments, concerns, and sometimes we would mention safety issues that needed to be addressed. After a few other meetings, the day would really start: Colton and I would go on-site, which was probably one of the most beneficial parts of the internship. The project site was like a block away from the office so anytime we wanted to go over there we would get our PPE on at the office and then walk to the project, this was kind of fun.
Most of the time, I would update or weekly report that was sent to the owner to see building progress, work on safety audits to track any hazards, and work on LEED certification matrix that was part of my UW capstone project.
What were you hoping to get out of the internship?
Emma: I was very excited but honestly didn't know what to expect. It was my first time being on a big commercial construction site and I'd only really taken three construction management classes before. I have had some prior experience just being curious and asking my dad questions about his work, and we've never lived in a finished house so it felt like I was living in a construction site for most of my life. I was my dad's little shadow and wanted to know how to do everything so I guess I feel like that helped me understand what was going on once I got to the internship. It was just a lot bigger, complex, and professional working on this big hotel.
With all that being said, I had this feeling that I was going to absolutely love it and that this internship would tell me if this really was what I wanted to do as a career. I wanted to go in there and ask so many questions and learn as much as I could. I learned so much more than I ever thought was possible and the environment in construction reminded me so much of being on a softball team, working toward a common goal. It's a lot of compensating and adjusting, fighting through adversity, holding people accountable, being confident in your preparation, and communicating. I love that I found myself thinking of all the things the coaches tell us every day.
What interests you about the construction field?
Emma: That we can start with so much money, manpower, and materials and create these things that meet people’s needs. It just amazes me and there is a lot to keep it exciting every day. I’m mostly interested in how it can be more sustainable in many aspects. I kind of already mentioned how softball helped me with this internship, but I can't stress enough I could take any task I did during my internship and relate it to our core values as a team in a split second and that is an extremely comforting feeling and makes me feel like I could go out in the world and do anything I wanted to because I have these core values ingrained in my brain.
This internship ties into my career goals because it has helped reinforce with me that this is what I want to do as a career. It lined up with my environmental interests. I can’t really say where I’ll end up yet but I think I’m on a path that will lead me to achieving my goals.
What were some of your favorite things about the internship?
Emma: Getting to know and learn from Colton, who was in my shoes not too long ago. Having a mentor who was so willing to teach me, answer questions, ask for my advice, bring me along to everything, and help me gain so much confidence. Getting to be on the project site with him almost every day just visually learning was so helpful. I can’t thank him enough for the experience.
