Physics Failure, Competition Humiliation, and Quitting
Welcome back to my best, yet likely inaccurate, recollection of the history of BuildWitt! Sorry for the one-week break… I was recovering post-CONEXPO.
In case you missed PART 7, I discussed my second summer in the Dirt World.
My time with Jose and company had come to an end… I had to drop the shovel and reluctantly return to my TI-84 graphing calculator.
Failure
In my first year, I attempted to knock out prerequisites like calculus one and two, chemistry, linear algebra, and construction 101.
Attempted is the keyword here. For my first semester, I barely cleared the bar. My GPA was out the window. Passing was the only standard.
But during my second semester, I met my new arch nemesis—Physics 121.
My brain doesn't compute acceleration and velocity, and in the spirit of Extreme Ownership, I lost interest quickly. I spent the first fifteen minutes of each lecture trying to focus but then doodled photos of my physics teacher, Carl, in various situations for Snapchat for the remaining hour.
But since doodling wasn't part of the course curriculum, my final grade rhymed with "me," and it wasn't B or C.
Take two… The course was on the critical path for my degree, meaning I HAD to achieve at least a 70%. I signed up for a different professor, hoping this would allow me to comprehend physics better. Nope.
Now that the stakes were far greater, I doodled less and practiced calculations for hours. On top of increased focus, I had reinforcements in the form of friends who were good at engineering. Note to anyone dumb like me—make smart friends.
At the end of the semester, I once again found myself in a Western-style showdown with PHY 121. Since my enemy had a far superior understanding of projectiles, it didn't look good. I needed a "C" on the final exam to pass. I studied and, more importantly, prayed.
My final Physics 121 grade per my second attempt was 70.0. I was elated until I realized the remainder of my degree was only physics wearing different disguises—statics, dynamics, deformable solids, structures, etc. But those were problems for other semesters…
The End of Engineering?
Failure is a humbling experience. I feel bad for kids who ace their way through school… They often lose out on learning the skills necessary for overcoming significant setbacks, which are waiting for them around every turn when real life begins.
Building a business seems like nothing but overcoming failure, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Knowing my failure in Physics was imminent, and with my proverbial tail between my legs, I called the only professional engineer I knew—Chris Kmetty from Markham.
I wanted to change my major from Construction Engineering to Construction Management. CM was all the construction but WAY less math… The same career result in less work? What was I waiting for?
I even had the paperwork to switch in hand.
But somehow, he talked me off the ledge. He suggested finishing the semester and taking it from there. I did, and for whatever reason, I never filed the paperwork. Damn him. More on why I'm grateful I didn't later…
SKANSKA
Since we're on the topic of Chris Kmetty and Markham, let's discuss my next career move. Working in the Arizona summer was properly miserable, but I loved it. I desperately wanted to return to swearing at Jose in Spanish for my third college summer.
But when I expressed this desire, Chris said I needed office/management experience. As I considered his advice and pondered what Rich Pierson told me years prior, I knew I needed a new role and company.
Back to the career fair I went. Honestly, I can't recommend ASU's construction program enough. If you have a pulse, they'll find you a job. Unlike most other majors, there's no struggle to find good work.
As I surveyed the room full of construction professionals standing behind folding tables, one caught my eye—Skanska.
On my drive to the Verrado job every day the summer prior, I'd pass a large interstate bridge replacement project surrounded by an army of white pickups with "SKANSKA" on the side of each in big, blue lettering.
I knew nothing about Skanska, but they looked legit. I based my perception entirely on how clean their brand was. Good enough for me!
After the career fair, I interviewed for a field engineer position. My previous two summers and my love for the industry easily carried me through the conversations. If only Physics were as simple as talking shop about equipment and building stuff…
Weeks later, early in my second semester of Sophomore year, I had my offer letter from Skanska—Field Engineer Intern for the Rocky Mountain District. Where? I'd find that out later—welcome to the world of big contractors. Regardless, I was stoked!!
RENO
The ultimate objective for college students should be finding their way to a fulfilling career. I say "should be" since I think many lose sight of this nowadays, but it was my only focus.
I'm pretty damn short (5'6"), but my grades were so low I still couldn't lean on them. I needed other means to make myself appear employable.
I had some field experience under my belt, but a sprinkle of extra-curricular activities in my resume wouldn't hurt.
Enter the ASC Reno competition…
"Reno," as everyone calls it, is a construction estimating competition hosted annually. Schools around the western US send teams of college kids to compete in different categories ranging from heavy civil to mechanical.
I wanted to compete with ASU's heavy civil team, but it was full of kids from the Construction Management program. I was from the engineering side, making me the odd man out. They had no room in their kool kids fort, but they did suggest I talk to other students forming a team to compete in the all-new "Marine Construction" category.
If you aren't familiar with geography, Arizona is landlocked. According to the internet, the closest beach is 212 miles from Phoenix. Due to AZ's lack of marine anything, there are no local marine construction companies.
While the heavy civil team engaged in mock bids sponsored by big-time local heavy civil contractors, we sat in a conference room Googling "what is marine construction?"
As we arrived in Reno, we must've looked like a tee-ball team showing up to the world series. And this wasn't about to be some David versus Goliath story… Humiliation was imminent.
Every team had a hotel room to transform into a mock "war room." We pushed all the furniture to one side and set up folding tables on the other. It was time. At 7 AM the following morning, the teams gathered for a pre-bid meeting, where the sponsor company explained the project.
Fortunately, the marine construction problem was new, so we had no big-time company to embarrass ourselves in front of. Ah, shit… It was Kiewit.
The project was a real job they'd completed in the past—an expansion for the Port of Seattle requiring demolition, dredging, pile-driving (foreshadowing), and the construction of a new pier. They gave us flash drives with plans, specifications, equipment lists, and images of the existing conditions.
With only twelve hours to complete the bid, we raced to the hotel room to review the information. In short, we had no idea what most of it was, and cleverly, Kiewit provided us with way more information than we'd ever need, furthering our intense head-scratching session.
The internet was off-limits (dumb), so it was five kids who knew nothing about marine construction versus one final number with a $ in front of it. Saying we made up our final estimate is putting it generously. By the end of the day, the document was in the hands of the Kiewit project experts.
The following morning, all the teams gathered for the bid opening. Finding out who sucks via email is one thing, but experiencing it live? Big oof.
We were so far off the mark that the judges seemed impressed in the worst of ways. I can't remember what critical errors we made, but I want to say we missed an entire portion of the bid.
After our incompetence was on full public display, I approached the judges. I may have sucked at bidding marine construction work, but I wasn't about to leave without the right connections for a future job. I already had Skanska lined up; however, my discussions with Kiewit would prove critical (more foreshadowing).
Dropping
Before my second year was up, I made two critical decisions.
Many people and parents foster a "never quit" mentality, but I see much value in quitting things that no longer serve value. I'm good to go as long as I never give up in the big-picture sense.
The first was my time at ASU's Honors College. Before school, telling people I was going to Barrett, the Honors College was fun. Thanks to brilliant marketing, all parents saw it as quite an achievement. I lapped up all the self-worth I could get.
While great my first year, with the special dorms and privileges being a distinguished honors student carried, the value significantly diminished in my second year.
Through my short time in construction, I learned that hard work was the only currency. No one cared about honors this or that. To pay for something few in my field valued seemed silly, so I told my parents I was dropping out. I had a compelling case, and they were supportive.
The second decision was much more challenging. After three semesters of Greek Life, my time was up.
In short, I deeply disagreed with some decisions the organization made. I tried making a difference but lacked the tenure and cunningness to make it happen.
I'd made many great relationships and felt it was best to end on a high note rather than let my frustration drag out for the rest of college.
From geed to fraternity bro to geed once more…
And with that, my sophomore year ended. Back to the Dirt World! Or this summer, it would be the train world? But that's a story for another newsletter... Until then, stay dirty!
Dirt Talk Podcast
Steve Goodfellow is the Chairman of the Board for Goodfellow Bros after years as the CEO. Goodfellow Bros Inc was founded in 1921 by Steve’s grandfather and uncles. Joining the company at 17, Steve knew early on that his career path was always going to be with the family company.
This week on Dirt Talk, host @AaronWitt was kindly invited to speak at a Goodfellow Bros Company Meeting in Hawaii. In addition to giving a presentation, Aaron got to sit down with GBI Chairman Steve Goodfellow and chat about Steve’s history with the company. Steve shared stories of failure and lessons learned, as well as hard-earned advice to young people entering the Dirt World.
Thank you to Steve and the entire Goodfellow team for your hospitality! Learn more about the company at goodfellowbros.com.
If you have any questions or feedback, email the Dirt Talk crew at dirttalk@buildwitt.com.
Vlog
This was shot on 3/13/23, the first day of ConExpo, at a panel entitled "An Equipment Managers Role in Overcoming our Workforce Challenge." If you're new around here, this is kind of the bread and butter gospel we preach as a company at BuildWitt. Randy Blount is our CFO, and with him, brings nearly 30 years of field experience to the table in my very first tag team speech to date.
Hopefully, you'll find at least one nugget here of valuable information that you can take back and apply to your team to help build a better future for yourselves, your colleagues, and, ultimately all of us. Cheers!
I’ll see you next week!
