Alumnus shares job experiences
This year’s Homecoming brought alumni Mike Drake back to campus to give a presentation as part of the geology and geography department’s colloquium series.
Drake, a 1985 graduate, spoke to students Friday about his job in the presentation, “How to Obtain Good Data for Lignite Coal in East Texas.”
Drake recently traveled to Sabine, Texas after being retired for the past six years to obtain data for lignite coal.
“I did it again this past year because it’s so much fun,” Drake said.
Drake said while working in Sabine, they would have to know what was there before they drilled and drill for quality.
“The exploration program there is a big game of battleship,” Drake said.
On his trip to Texas, Drake brought two additional workers with him; one of which was his daughter Hannah.
“Normally, I’ve done this all by myself,” Drake said. “I double dip; I work my butt off.”
Drake joked that his daughter was “drafted” into coming on the trip.
While presenting on his trip, Drake showed participants photos he had taken on the trip of samples and explained the different types of clay and material they had explored while drilling.
Chris Smith, a senior geology major, came to the event to learn more about a topic he did not know much about.
“I’m pretty ignorant on mining and things like that. I just wanted to see what an actual person did; one of the jobs at least,” Smith said.
Smith said he did not learn a huge amount, but there were good facts.
“It was short, but there was a lot of information in it, a lot of good information in it,” Smith said.
Olivia Barbee, a junior geology major, and Andrew Kunz, a senior geology major, both had attended the event.
Barbee said the event gave her insight into jobs in the field of geology.
“I’m basically not interested in the coal,” Barbee said. “I thought I would come just to see because Adam got a job from his internship so I was just interested in seeing actually what he did.”
Kunz also said he came to the event to learn more about job options in the area of geology.
“It’s always good to learn about the options that you have,” Kunz said.
Sam Bohne can be reached
at 581-7942
