Like so much in our day-to-day lives, we don’t really think about bridges when we’re using them — they just take us where we need to go. Before she graduated from the College of Engineering and became an Associate Bridge Engineer with Olsson, that’s how Angelica thought of bridges, too.
“This whole bridge thing wasn’t really part of my plan. Actually, it was a bit of a shock when I was first put on this team,” laughs Angelica. “What’s really made me come to appreciate them, though, are the site visits and inspections we do. Seeing so many people driving on them each day has made me realize how essential bridges are to our lives.”
Today, Angelica has worked on over 20 bridges across the state, helping Nebraskans everywhere get where they need to go. One project in particular proved essential to some of Angelica’s fondest journeys from her childhood.
Early in her career, Angelica was on a site inspection at the Decatur Bridge, which connects Nebraska and Iowa over the Missouri River. While there, she reflected on the countless times she and her family from the nearby Winnebago Reservation had driven over that bridge as she was growing up. It took her and her family on road trips, visits to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha or just everyday errands.
That bridge was a pathway to beautiful memories and daily needs for so many, including herself. Suddenly, it was her job to make sure it all held together.
“I specifically remember that bridge and being a little scared every time we would drive over it when I was a kid,” she smiles. “I’ve inspected that bridge twice now, and it’s brought back so many incredible memories. It’s the only bridge for 20 miles north or south along the Missouri River, so it’s a huge deal for people in those nearby communities — including Winnebago.”
Though she spent most of her time growing up in New Mexico, Angelica always considered the Winnebago Tribal Reservation home. It’s where most of her family lived, where she visited every summer and where she developed a lifelong obsession with Nebraska football.
“Because my mom graduated from UNL, I just had this absolute love for Husker football. I’ve been watching since I was a baby. So, even though I started college in New Mexico, I think I always knew I wanted to end up at Nebraska.”
By the time she did get to UNL, she already knew she had a knack for engineering. And while the College of Engineering courses were definitely challenging, the support and community she sought in college went beyond academics. She found it in some familiar faces.
“A woman named Colette Yellow Robe was in TRIO at the time and also my mom’s friend from college at UNL,” she says. Nebraska’s TRIO program offers academic resources, mentorship and financial support for under-served scholars.
“She and TRIO did so much to help me find the financial resources I needed to continue college — without them, I’m not sure finishing school would’ve been possible for me.”
Angelica also found — and expanded — Native American community on campus through UNITE (University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange), headed up by her cousin. Together, they saw an opportunity to build a different sort of bridge: one between their family, their culture and their campus.
“I already had this strong connection through my cousin. Together, we worked to bring the powwow back to campus, which had been inactive for a number of years. As we were going back through old files, I found photos of my mom when she was a student doing the same things we were doing, which was really inspiring.”
The UNITE powwow still continues today, serving as a bridge for other Native students to find community and celebration. It was during the height of this busy time, though, that Angelica walked into a career fair in the Union with a goal to impress the company that would eventually become her future employer.
“I already knew Olsson and knew they would be at the fair, so I did that thing where you research everyone in the company, figure out what projects they worked on and write down questions. I guess it worked, because a week later they called me about an internship. I’ve been working here ever since.”
And though bridges weren’t on her mind when she first got the job, she quickly realized that bridges contained many of the same engineering fundamentals she’d been rigorously studying at Nebraska.
I use what I learned from some of my classes at Nebraska every single day. Even just being involved in so many groups has helped me manage my time, be more of a leader, work with clients or express my ideas to other engineers. I think Nebraska just encourages you to embrace leadership aspects in yourself.
In her off time, Angelica tries to pass down some of those leadership skills to younger generations of future engineers, volunteering her time in local classrooms, bringing groups from local youth organizations like Girls Inc. In to shadow her on the job and, even, coach youth girls' basketball in the evenings.
It’s a practice she’s kept from her time as a Husker.
“At Nebraska, we were encouraged to volunteer in so many different ways. I volunteered in the YMCA’s Smart Girls program for getting more girls into STEM fields, which is where I realized I loved working with kids. So, I’m really happy I’ve been able to keep that going.”
