When Darian Lafferty graduated from Bloomington High School North in May, she started her summer internship at Hoosier Energy.
However, it would be the second time she interned for the Bloomington-based generation and transmission cooperative. Lafferty served as a high school intern — the first at Hoosier in recent memory — from September to May in an experience that proved beneficial for both parties.
“She did great work,” System Planning Manager Carl Field said. “This was not an internship where we said, ‘Oh, let’s assign some random busy work, some filing and stuff that’s been piling up on our backburner.’ She was doing real, meaningful work and did a great job of it.
“She showed maturity, initiative, and motivation far beyond what we would expect from a high school student.”
Lafferty, who will be studying electrical engineering at the University of Southern Indiana this fall, found the experience only confirmed her chosen major.
“I have been interested in engineering in general for a few years because my stepdad works with mechanical and electrical engineering with HVAC systems,” she said. “It’s a different ballfield, but still interesting working with circuits. I’ve always leaned towards math and building and construction and that mindset.”
With the help of System Planning Engineer Greg Jekel, a recent Purdue graduate, Lafferty found herself diving into the deep end of the pool of real-world experience.
“The thing I learned most from Carl, Greg, and Mike (Dix) was learning to think like an engineer,” she said. “You can problem solve in school, but you usually have directions. In the real world, it’s more like here is what it looks like. Figure it out. You have to have a goal in mind, break it into steps, and work backward…It’s a different way of thinking.”
Lafferty doesn’t mind different. She was also a golfer and violinist in high school and saw some similarities between three of her biggest interests.
Meanwhile, Hoosier Energy sees potential beyond this summer.
“We will keep an eye on Darian because, in four years, she will be graduating from engineering school,” Field said. “By then, it may be time to see if she wants to stay local after graduation.”
