05/15/19
Danae Buschkoetter (pronounced dah-NAY-ah bushcutter) and four other graduating seniors were asked to speak to the same set of questions about their college careers. The transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for form and concision.

Danea Buschkoetter, Holdrege, Neb., a 2014 graduate of Blue Hill High School, Blue Hill, Neb., is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in technology studies (industrial).

Danae Buschkoetter, can you describe you were when you first came to Fort Hays State?

I was shy. I didn't really like to talk to anyone. I wasn't quite sure if this was exactly what I was wanting to do, because I was a transfer student. I actually went to NCK Tech for welding. And then I came here for the program that they have an articulation agreement with. And so I finished my second year with NCK Tech and decided, oh, I might as well go on for my bachelor's degree. I'm this close to having it done. I might as well. But I remember I was shy. I didn't know a soul here.

Who I am now is not as I was then.

How has your experience at Fort Hays State changed you? 

I'm not as shy when it comes to opening up to people. I kind of tell it how it is. Before, I would just kind of keep my thoughts to myself, but in the kind of industry that I'm in with my career, you kind of have to tell them how you're feeling.

Especially in a man's field like applied technology. So I'm definitely more outgoing, I'm way more independent than what I was then.

Now I've figured out that I can do things more on my own and don't necessarily need that person there to, like, hold my hand all the way through. I'm just more outgoing and not afraid to get out of my comfort zone.

But here I am graduating, and I now have a full-time contract with NCK Tech, and I'm going to be a welding instructor for them in Beloit.

Who and what helped you become the person you are now?

I would say everyone that I've met, every contact that I’ve met here, all the different internships that I had. I had two different internships, one where it made me at least five hours away from anyone that I knew, down in Texas, out the middle of nowhere in Amarillo. I didn't know anyone, didn't know a soul. And that helped me because I knew I know now have those contacts.

And then I did more towards a construction route because last year I was thinking I wanted to do more like structural steel and that pathway. So I did a project managing internship with Crossland Construction out of Wichita. I was a project manager intern for them and actually got to lead my own project with one of the partnerships that they have, and I met a whole bunch of people through that opportunity as well.

Along with all the faculty here, that's definitely helped me open up. They got me involved with TEECA, which is the Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association. At that point, I would sit in the meetings, and I would just kind of sit there and not say a single word.

I slowly gained friendships, but then my second year in it, most of those people that were in it my first year graduated, so I actually got to take on a leadership role in being treasurer, which kind of helped me to open up more, because I had to help with the meetings and whatnot, and then eventually I became president of TEECA. They kind of call me the face of the Applied Technology Department just because I work for the department plus in TEECA, and I'm really involved with the department. I like to voice my opinion about the department as much as I can because I truly loved it here.

Is there anything else would you like to say?

A woman can do anything, even if it is a male-driven field. That's the biggest thing. Just don't be afraid and conquer it. It will always be hard in the beginning, but once you push through, it's rewarding. I was super afraid even going into welding in general, and then here I could continue on in a male-driven field, and I just I've gotten more confident in myself as time has gone on.