Happy National Petroleum Day!

If you follow along on Instagram, you may remember I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be adding a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) section to the blog. I figured National Petroleum Day was just as good as any to start with!

Why today?! Easy! I’m a Petroleum Engineer – I specialize in Reservoir. In short, I forecast reserves, run economics, dive into the complex and super exciting world of data analytics, try to learn everything I can about rate transient analysis, and integrate everything to better understand fluid flow in the reservoir. I’ll go into more detail in a later post, but I absolutely love what I do and I always knew I’d expand the blog to include a focus on STEM-related topics, so, here we are!

I was always geared towards STEM. I distinctly remember teaching my babysitters math (they failed a few quizzes in my impromptu classes) and I dreamed of being a surgeon. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be around blood without passing out, so that dream ended pretty fast. Lucky for y’all!

YOU ARE YOUR BIGGEST SUPPORTER

Read that line above. Okay, read it again. I’ll wait.

I attended a high school that specialized in science and technology and then went to the Colorado School of Mines. Over those few years, I had five people that put down my dreams to pursue a career in STEM. Here’s the mind-blowing part: three of them were teachers/professors, three of them were women, and three of them were engineers. And no, it was not the same three for each group.

So again, YOU ARE YOUR BIGGEST SUPPORTER. Don’t pay attention to the haters. Just keep going. This holds true in all aspects of life but certainly when you’re pursuing a goal that someone else doesn’t believe in you, or doesn’t want you to achieve.

I didn’t get straight A’s in college, I never just “got it” in Physics or Statics, and at one point I SERIOUSLY thought about transferring schools. But I didn’t. I wanted to be an engineer, so I kept showing up and putting in the work. You can, too.

STEM can be a challenging path but it’s so worth it! Surround yourself with other people cheering you on and rooting for you every step of the way. I did. I have been really fortunate to meet and work with fantastic people in industry during my internships and since graduation. Thanks to my family, friends, teachers, professors, mentors, and coworkers that were a great support system along the way!

I would be happy to answer any questions you have and let me know in the comments your specific STEM topics you’d like to see on the blog!

Happy National Petroleum Day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taryn