HomeIndustry NewsA Day In the Life: Part 3

Posted:  Apr 04, 2016

What I loved about science was the need to constantly learn. The scope of human knowledge is constantly expanding, and you have to be a lifetime learner to keep up with the scientific field. You know what else requires constant learning? Changing fields – especially to door hardware. There are almost as many acronyms as science, and the field is constantly changing to keep up with new codes, styles, and standards. I finished the Door Hardware Institute’s “Hardware 101” course and I’m working on my CDT (Construction Document Technician) certificate. I haven’t studied this much since college!

In science, it was easy to justify a lot of the hard work by thinking about how much the field mattered – I worked on diseases like heart disease, dengue fever, and HIV.   At the end of a 14-hour day, I could tell myself that it was worth it because I was saving lives.  Life saving might be a bit of a stretch in door hardware – although fire and life safety issues are a huge part of building design.  I may not to influencing those codes directly, but I am a resource for people whose job it is to comply with those codes.  

At the heart of it, I’m a nerd.  I love learning things and sharing that knowledge with people.  I get excited about finding out new things and even if it weren’t my job to go present them, I’d be telling everyone around me about it anyway!  The construction business is so huge that I’m sure I can stretch this excitement about the industry into a full, rewarding career.