By: Diana Aristizábal, guest blog.
I was sure of my decision to study Civil Engineering, until a family friend talked so enthusiastically about power towers and power plants that it rubbed off on me. At that time, when I was 15 years old, I said I did not want to study “careers made for girls”, now I laugh and say, who said careers had gender? Although that is how it felt at times.
On the first try, as it happens to thousands of people, I did not pass admission to one of the most recognized public universities in this country, but I tried again, and it worked. I was now part of a group of 51 students in which there were only five of us women, and there I was. Firm, convinced and in love with Electrical Engineering. I survived and arrived at a renowned company in Medellin to do my internship, which later became my first four years of experience, where I met people who taught me, cared for me, valued me, but others, on the other hand, doubted my talent, desire and knowledge.
I was doing field work, going to substations to do surveys of the designs we were developing, and in the middle of those outings I heard a phrase that I adored: “this girl will not to be able to do the job. Her nails and heels are going to break.” That is why I bring to this text the famous phrase of the British writer, Vivien Greene, “life is not waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning to dance in the rain” … because instead of discouraging me, it drove me so strongly that today I have more than 24 years of service with heels and long nails.
One of the most important days of my professional life was the moment when I was called by the Infrastructure Project Management of ISA to work as a contractor in the UPME 2003 project, a great milestone for the multi-Latin Company, since they would reinforce the Central Network and connect it with the Caribbean region, thanks to this experience, I returned in 2012 to be part of Corporate Engineering, this time from the inside.
I also reaffirm that what I studied is not a career for men or women, it is for people, and that from our sensitivity we contribute to this “masculinized” profession, but I proudly celebrate that at ISA opportunities are for everyone. For all.
Today I feel happy. We recently launched the Proof-of-Concept Center (CPC), a high-tech digital laboratory where control and protection tests of high-voltage electrical systems can be performed with a real-time simulation system, with the purpose of strengthening quality and reliability in power transmission systems and contributing to prepare the systems for the greater demands of the grids of the future: more reliable, flexible, resilient, and safe. The CPC will also accelerate and enrich the learning and training curve of people to develop critical competence in these highly technical and demanding topics. This dream is under the direction and leadership of Diana Aristizábal, Coordinator of Substation Engineering at ISA. Nice to meet you, it is me.
