Samantha Jones is engineering the road to success.
Jones, a civil engineering senior, is in Washington, D.C., this semester after receiving an Eisenhower Fellowship from the federal government and is working for the Federal Department of Transportation.
Jones was one of many students from across the nation who applied for the fellowship. She was the only student selected from UK.
Her collegiate career began with aspirations of becoming a physician. But things changed a little along the way.
During a routine visit to her doctor, she watched all the patients come and go.
"I suddenly thought that I didn't really want the responsibility of life and death in my hands," she said.
But she really had no idea where she'd go from there. It was her father, Richard Jones, who suggested she look into engineering.
Heeding his advice, Jones began her second year at UK in civil engineering.
She narrowed her field of concentration to transportation shortly after taking her first class under civil engineering professor Nikiforos Stamatiadis, who is also her project adviser in Washington. Since moving to D.C., Jones hasn't had much time to turn around. She requested a copy of accident reconstruction reports from every state and currently is reviewing the reports for each state. The end goal of the project is to set up a national standard way of reconstructing accidents.
"I was hesitant (about the fellowship) at first, but I'm really glad I did it now," Jones said. "It's interesting to see how engineering works at the federal level."
One thing she noticed immediately was the number of women in her office.
"As a female, it's good to see other women in this field," Jones said. "That's pretty uncommon at UK."
And there seems to be virtually no competition between the employees.
"Everyone operates on a very professional level," Jones said.
But before she reaches the office each morning, she tackles a different challenge - the ride to work. It's an hour's ride each way. Jones takes the shuttle to the Metro (the capital's subway system) then has two train changes before she reaches her daily destination.
"If you wake up late, you're screwed," Jones said. "You just can't speed to class." She knows. It's happened.
But the worst thing for Jones has been finding a place to live and getting apartment problems solved. But she's been up to the challenge.
"Samantha is definitely a survivor. She always keeps going," said Susan Vest, a biology and sociology junior. "Nothing seems to get her down. She's always calm and level-headed. In D.C., that's a plus.
"Putting up with management and all the things that go wrong is the pits."
But living in the nation's capital isn't all bad.
"It's so exciting!" Jones said. "You see and hear so much that you don't living in Lexington - for example, the press release from the Secretary of Transportation."
From the time she was very young, Jones received a lot of praise and encouragement from both parents and grew to enjoy the good feelings associated with success. And those feelings of accomplishment have kept her going.
With her fellowship at the halfway mark, Jones is looking ahead to this fall and later - graduate school.
"Berkley, M.I.T., Texas A &M and UK Honors Graduate Program are all possibilities," Jones said.
Her family kids her about eventually going into business with her brother, Richard, who is a graduate student in Harvard's architectural program, but she said there's no truth to the joke - at least not now.
Jones said living in Washington has been a great experience.
"Everyone who has the opportunity should try it,"Jones said. "But it will be nice to get back to UK."
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