Melchiorre 1

Michael Melchiorre
Mrs. Crist
English IV
April 27, 2016
Real World Experience Narrative
Ever since I was a child, I have always gravitated towards engineering. Throughout my
whole life, I have invested so much time into completing all the classes in school that I possibly
could and involving myself in every engineering related activity. With this being said, I decided
to use this as my main topic for the senior exploration project. Since I have always had a strong
passion for the environment, I wanted to incorporate this into my subject. Environmental
engineering captures this idea perfectly. (ENE) has a wide array of techniques that can be applied
to various ecosystems to improve the quality of the environment. However, I wanted to focus on
how it helps restore wetlands. As an environmentalist, I understand the anthropogenic effects
placed upon the environment every day. This is why environmental engineering became a vital
topic for me to explore and share with my peers and the world.
Since I currently have an internship with the company the earthworks group, I have had
the opportunity to learn first-hand the many ways environmental engineers restore the
environment. This opened up the opportunity for me to obtain my service hours through their
company. I could not think of any other way to complete my service learning experience. Steve
Strickland, the owner of earthworks, was ecstatic that I chose his company to shadow. I knew
that the experience I was about to acquaintance myself with would be one I would treasure for
the rest of my life.

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Throughout the time I spent at Earthworks, I was taught all the aspects of how they
design and access the ecological damage done to the environment. The first thing I was shown
was the designing process. This proved to be very involved and it took me some time to get the
hang of it. I began with assisting them in figuring out the best way to fix the issue at hand. Steve
Williams, the head environmental engineer, and I created a series of ditches and canals to
channel the polluted water and sediment away from the impacted site using AutoCAD. The next
thing we tackled was the Murrells Inlet drum site. Since its an area behind the inlet square mall
with over 1000 55-gallon drums filled with toxins leaking into the local water table, I had to
figure out a way to help remove the contaminated soil and flora. I enjoyed the challenge these
activities brought, but Earthworks had one more facet to show me.
After I was shown the designing process, I was then introduced to how they access the
damage in the field. The first site we went to was off of Hwy 31 by barefoot landing. I noticed
that there happened to be a few empty and leaking metal containers near some discolored soil.
Steve Williams pointed out that the soil was stained from the barrels secreting an unknown
substance that appeared to be petroleum based. We then proceeded to photograph and take some
soil samples to analyze later on. The next site we went to was underneath the swing bridge so we
could gather the data from the tide gauge. Since the data showed that the waterways levels have
increased, it has posed a threat to our water tables. Steve then explained to me that the waterway
has become polluted and dirty so when it floods inland, it raises the chance to infect our water
table. This information and experience helps me further prove my point that environmental
engineers are needed to mend the many negative effects placed upon the environment every day.
When I first started the senior exploration process, I did not imagine myself going down
the path I chose. Looking back, I am glad that I chose the topic I did because I cannot help but

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feel the turnout would not be as beneficial as this one has been if I had chosen a topic other than
environmental engineering. This experience has helped me narrow down my decision on what to
do with my career in life, and that is to become an engineer. I am glad that I had the opportunity
to do this so I could get little taste of what to expect. It brings me joy to say that I helped make
peoples lives a bit easier when I assisted with repairing the environment. Environmental
engineering will eventually become the cure for all the ecological problems that exist, and for my
particular future, I will help to the best of my ability to get it one step closer to that point.