Dakotah Van Huss

B-6
Capstone Reflection
The Internship:
I interned with Joseph Jackson from December to May, on showcase day, every
Thursday from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. I learned so many things from Joseph about
working with the county and engineering in general. When I came into the office, I was
welcomed with open arms, and I never felt like an intern, but more like a partner while I
worked with Joseph. He made it his goal to teach me the sorts of things that he wished
he had known while he was working through college. I was able to use my knowledge
from my PLTW C.E.A course and apply it on a physical level to the projects that Joseph
worked on daily.
What I learned:
When people ask me what a civil engineer does, I explain to them that civil
engineers work with city infrastructures, roads, bridges, structures, and more. When
they ask me what I want to do as a civil engineer, I explain that I really enjoy structures
and the residential aspect of structures. I want to talk to people and make them happy
by meeting their personal needs. My views of civil engineering and what I can do with it
have changed since working with Joseph. Joseph has a B.S in Environmental
Engineering, and a B.S in Hydrology, and most of his projects pertained to those fields,
but civil engineering was always a part of it as well.
From Joseph, I learned the amazingness of water. At first, I thought he was
crazy for wanting to create watersheds, drive out to floodplains and survey the water
flow, and slop around under bridges to measure for insurance in the final build plans. My

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first MS4 watershed was of the creek behind my house, and the culvert that it flows to
about a half a mile from my house. I got to map out the watershed on a topography
map, recreate and measure it using GIS mapping, and do the calculations for the cfs of
the water and what size culvert was needed. Finally, I got to go out with my tape
measure and confirm that the culvert was undersized, as is the case with most Ellis
County culverts. After this project, I was hooked on water flow charting.
I did several other MS4 problems with Joseph, and I learned about the power
that water has. When water and elevations mix together, it either works or it doesnt. I
learned to appreciate the power of water, and what it could do to the land and people
around it. Now I realize how true it is that water can cause massive devastation when it
doesnt do what everyone is expecting it to. I watched pictures of the Padera Lake dam
breech last year, and how a 9ft deep, 12ft wide emergency spillway quadrupled in size,
in a matter of hours. Those images were humbling, because Joseph and his boss, Joe
White, were standing right there, feeling the water rush by in front of them. I cant
imagine what that must have felt like, but I have far more respect water now than I did
before. I feel like I could easily work in water management and be happy with it.
A List of Projects I Assisted On:

Grande Casa MS4 problem

Walker Creek Road MS4 problem
Newman Road Bridge final measurements
Legacy Subdivision MS4
Pioneer Point Subdivision MS4
Chambers Creek Fish Relocation Plan
Gibson Street Subdivision land survey
Chambers Creek dam review

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Affirmation of My Passion:
I have not been back to my internship since the showcase, and I have missed it
dearly. When I went into Josephs office on Thursdays, hed always ask me how I was
doing first thing. Of course, I was always tired and it was always a crazy week, and he
would tell me, Dakotah, you dont have to come in if you have too much work going on,
or if you dont want to. For my own health, I most likely should have accepted that offer
a couple of times, but I never could bring myself to, because I loved the work. I was
ready for whatever crazy maps or calculations he had for me to analyze. I felt like I was
in my happy place as I leaned over my work, completely confused by the change in
elevation on the map, or a random variable that I didnt know how to evaluate. I dont
think Ive ever felt more pride than in the moments when I had a breakthrough while
working on those problems that Joseph gave me.
Mr. Joe White, the Ellis County Engineer at the time of my internship, (retired
May 10, 2016), would tell everyone who came into the office that I was the best intern
the county had ever had. I dont know if I can believe that after hearing of Joes life
story, but I know that it probably seemed that way because of my diligence to my work,
and my obvious passion for the career. I cant say how grateful I am to have had this
opportunity to fall even more in love with my civil engineering. To have the smartest and
most experienced engineer Ive ever met tell me that I was the best makes me want to
never stop trying. My passion is in civil engineering, and this internship helped confirm
that.
The Fellowship Hall:

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When this project was first brought up at my church, I was expecting it to be a
huge deal, and I wanted to get my hands dirty and produce a finished building by the
end of the year. What I didnt realize was, I was dealing with a church financing board,
no timeline, and no immediate need for the building. All three of these factors combined
basically proved that I was not to have a finished building by the end of the year. My
pastor approached me with the ramp conundrum because no one else wanted to take it
on as a project. I had the Revit and the ability to look up ADA a codes, so I agreed to
take the project on.
Ramp Design One:
I knew that this design was far-fetched from the beginning, because who wants
to cover up a perfectly good sidewalk with an extremely long and bulky ramp? But, it
was completely compliant with ADA codes, and it was included as an option. As far as
the design build goes, it did not take too much time to finish. Once I confirmed that the
ramp slope was acceptable, I was able to just create a straight ramp that protruded from
the door of the Fellowship Hall and tapered to the door of the Sanctuary. This was my
first time to ever create a ramp in Revit, so I had to learn how to insert the ramp and
identify slope and everything, but it was a pretty simple process overall.
Ramp Design Two:
Unlike Design One, the second design was not as straight forward. It took a lot
more research of ADA codes, rules on landings, rules on wrapping, and lots of
measuring at the site. Once the time came to actually create the map in Revit, it did not
prove to be any easier, and I spent a couple of hours trying to work on getting the

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landings and wrappings and ramp boundaries to line up. It turned out that Revit did not
approve of my attempts to wrap the ramp around the building, and it took a lot of
convincing to get everything to work out smoothly. I feel a lot better about this ramp
because it takes up far less of the sidewalk, and looks a little more impressive and
complicated than the first one did.
What I learned:
From this experience, I learned that working with unmotivated parties is
sometimes discouraging and disappointing, but I also understand that not everyone can
see this project as a top priority because it is not essential to the function of the church.
I also learned that I do not want to be one of the ADA inspectors that comes in and
checks everything out, because I have not met a single person in the contracting
business who actually likes those guys. This also affirmed my idea that I am more
interested in physical projects than in possible designs. It was really cool to create my
own ramp designs, but it was more fun to draw on maps at my internship with Joseph. I
think this was a very insightful project overall, because I did learn more about what Im
interested in, and what I would rather not do if possible.
My Takeaway from Both Capstone Components:
My biggest takeaway from both the internship and the Fellowship Hall project, is
that I still want to pursue civil engineering as a career. Throughout this year, I realized
how important this opportunity was for me. Not only do both components look great on
my resume, but they also show that I am serious about civil engineering. It took a lot of

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extra dedication on my part to complete both of these projects, but I am so proud of
myself.
Earlier this year, I was interviewed for the Terry Foundation Scholarship program,
and one of my interviewers was a civil engineer. He asked me specifically about how I
planned to prepare for my career in civil engineering, and I was so proud to talk about
my capstone, and what I had accomplished. I still feel that my answer to his question
helped me to be selected as a Terry Scholar. I understand that the opportunities
capstone has given me are very exclusive, and not many students every get them.
I want to be a civil engineer. I have been saying that for the past three years, and
all year I have confirmed that statement over and over again. Being able to have my
internship with Joseph, and the ramp project with my church, gave me a taste of what I
might be doing for the rest of my life. In fact, I am very interested in the aspect of
becoming a County Engineer, if the opportunity ever arises. That is another thing that I
took away from my capstone; if you do what you love, youll never work a day in your
life. I know that I will love being a civil engineer, so I guess you can say that my
capstone was a success. As far as career discovery goes, I think I found the one that
was meant for me. Capstone only helped to confirm that I want to be a civil engineer,
and I will remember this course for the rest of my life.