ST. GEORGE — Summer Stevens Hughes’ life changed because of a career survey.
You know, those surveys everyone takes at least once in high school that reveal the career in which you’ll be happiest.
Hughes, the valedictorian in the graduating class at Hurricane High School in 2018, always thought she’d be in theater.
In high school she was in speech and debate and theater classes and was part of theatrical productions, including a trip to Broadway.
But late in her senior year she took the ACT Career Survey and it told her she’d be “medium happy” with a life in the theater.
“So I took it to my dad, and I told him, ‘It says I’d be happiest with all these math and science jobs, what should I do?’” Hughes told St. George News in a telephone conversation.
And her father, who happens to be an engineer, said, “’Well, someone has to build those theaters.’”
Fast forward four years and Hughes is on the verge of a career doing just that as she pursues her civil engineering degree at the University of Utah.
“I’ve loved engineering ever since then,” Hughes said. “I’m hoping to do structures. Obviously I know I’d never be able to build something on my own but it would be great to help design one.”
Hughes is an ambassador with the University of Utah College of Engineering, doing outreach to K-12 students about engineering.
She will graduate in 2023 and then plans to pursue a master’s degree in a technical field followed by a Ph.D. in Engineering Education.
Hughes grew up in LaVerkin with her parents Paul and Nancy Stevens and her two siblings.
She said she hopes her story highlights the impact that small-town kids can make, and she wants to encourage current students to have more confidence in their abilities and to pursue an education of any form so they can make a difference.
“Growing up as a Hurricane student it felt like I didn’t have some of the privileges that maybe students from Northern Utah might have had or even the different schools in the valley,” Hughes said. “We didn’t have some of the same opportunities kids had at other schools.”
“I want students to know that that doesn’t have to be a reason to be set back,” she added. “Regardless of the opportunities they may or may not have, that doesn’t have to define them. They can keep moving forward.”
Code of ethics
Hughes recently won the prestigious Daniel W. Mead Prize for Students, awarded through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Her essay, “How Key Differences in the 2020 Update of the Code of Ethics Will Affect the Civil Engineering Profession-and Humanity,” was selected from over 100 other submissions.
She also won a regional award for the essay and a corresponding presentation.
Her paper compares the ASCE Code of Ethics 2020 rewrite to its predecessor from 2017 and explains why the changes made to the language in the newest version were necessary.
“One of the ideas that I want people to take away from my paper is that ethical directions are better than ethical lines,” Hughes said. “It’s about looking in the mirror and asking yourself, ‘Is this ethical? Is this concerning people on the planet?’”
Click here for more information about the award and a copy of the winning essay.
Acoustic engineering
Hughes will soon begin a 10-week internship program at Brigham Young University focusing on research in acoustics.
“Learning about sound and acoustics will help me build better theater buildings,” she said. “It’s one of the fields I’m looking into exploring in graduate school.”
Hughes said that several teachers helped her along the way, including high school teachers David Vick, Richard Hill and Debra Thornton. She thanked them and University of Utah faculty mentor Dr. Christine Pomeroy.
“And thanks to my parents and in-laws and my husband Jesse for all their love and support through the years,” Hughes said.
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