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My name is Katie Jeffreys. I am
27 years old and
am from Buffalo Grove , IL, although
my family now lives in nearby Barrington, IL. I graduated from The North Shore Country Day
School in Winnetka, IL in June 1997 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
Cambridge, MA in June of 2001. I lived in Baker House for
my first two years at MIT, and in the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority
house for the last two. I lived in Sugar Hill, Harlem in New York
City for quite awhile, but now live in Whitestone, Queens.
My time at MIT was busy: I worked for The Tech , MIT's student newspaper, as a writer, photographer and Features Editor. I was known on campus for my weekly vegetarian column. Go to the paper's site and search for my articles to read more! I was involved in the Musical Theater Guild , stage managing ROBOTS, doing publicity for Chess and Company and producing You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown as well as set design, costume design and serving on the board. I was also involved with MIT as an alum, as the Class of 2001 Alumni Class Council's Vice President from 2001-2006. |
In my freshman year at MIT,
I took ten classes over two semesters:
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| 5.11 | Principles of Chemical Science | 5.60 | Thermodynamics and Kinetics | |
| 8.01X | Physics (Kinetics- with experiments) | 8.02X | Physics (Electricity and Magnetism- with experiments) | |
| 18.01 | Calculus | 18.02 | Multivariable Calculus | |
| 21L.004 | Major Poets | 21L.487 | Modern Poets | |
| MAS.A03 | The Evolving Documentary | 21W.765J | Interactive and Non-Linear Narrative | |
I declared " Course 1-E" or Environmental Engineering as my major. I decided to double major in Literature , simply because I enjoy it. I then took more advanced/specialized classes:
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| 18.03 | Differential Equations | 1.060 | Thermodynamics and Kinetics | |
| 1.010 | Uncertainty in Engineering | 7.014 | Introductory Biology | |
| 1.80 | Ecology | 11.002 | Introduction to Public Policy and Government Action | |
| 21L.481 | Reading Victorian Culture | 21L.704 | Studies in Poetry: American Nature Poetry | |
| 10.001 (IAP) | Introduction to Computer Methods | 21L.705 | Major Authors: The Brontes | |
| 21W803.1 | Practicum in Writing and Oral Presentation | |||
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| 1.061 | Fluid Transport Processes in the Environment | 1.080 | Environmental Chemistry and Biology | |
| 1.070 | Hydrology | 1.107 | Environmental Chemistry and Biology Laboratory | |
| 1.106 | Lab (for the above two classes) | 6.868J | The Society of Mind | |
| 21L.705 | Major Authors: Willa Cather | 21H.421 | Introduction to Environmental History | |
| 1.811J | Environmental Law: Pollution Control | 21W.756 | Writing and Reading Poems | |
| SEM.051 | Sex Roles and Relationsips | |||
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| 2.96 | Management in Engineering | 1.097 | Environmental Engineering Clinic | |
| 3.982 | Ancient Andean Worlds | 17.319 | Environmental Policy and Politics | |
| 21M.731 | Principles of [Stage] Design | 1.992 | Air Pollution Control | |
| 12.003 | Physics of the Ocean and Atmosphere | 4.651 | 20th Century Art | |
| 21L.470 | 18th Century Literature: Jane Austen | |||
I had several jobs while at MIT. One
was a UROP in the Environmental Engineering Department. I used a spectrophotometer
to measure the decay of superoxide in a photosensitive solution containing
sea water samples in order to determine the effect and reactivity of unknown
dissolved organic matter in sea water. In my other job, I tutored young
children in reading and writing as a part of the America Reads program.
I continued to do this for a couple years, and worked with three great girls
in third, fifth and sixth grades. My Junior and Senior years I worked at
the 24-hour coffeehouse on campus, which is a low stress, fun job where
i get to meet cool people and play my own music. I was promoted to Purchasing
Manager and had fun buying food for the coffeehouse.
The summer after freshman year I worked at EMT, an environmental consulting firm near my hometown. I did quality control charts, financial analysis and formal procedure writeup, as well as filling in around the lab and on the field. The summer after sophomore year I was in Venice, Italy, working at Thetis, s.P.a. Basically, the city is sinking into the lagoon (or more realistically the sea is rising), and there are huge efforts to stop that from happening. I made maps of environmental data around the lagoon and wrote programs which calculated data from the past 50 years so that trends in wind, precipitation, etc. could be examined. I also designed web-based systems in which this data could be viewed to show changes of time or parameter. More on Venice:
My time at Thetis, and in Europe,
was the most amazing experience of my life. My work was interesting and
challenging. I would be given a project to which there was no known answer
(at least within the company) and I had to solve it any way I could. This
involved a lot of creative thinking and problem solving. The environment
was not stressful, and few deadlines were imposed, which allowed me to
work until I felt my results were the best they could be. This sort of
environment suited me well. While my work was somewhat menial, the approval
of my supervisors assured me that it was important to the greater projects
they were involved in. Some of my projects (maps, web pages, etc) were
presented across the globe, from Germany to Brazil.
In the summer of 2000 I worked at
Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI. I estimated
the amount of certain pollutants used in the car parts in order to determine
whether they can be recycled. I also worked with a team of interns to develop
a recycling strategy for their new low speed vehicle, the TH!NK Neighbor .
I graduated in June 2001 and moved to New York City in September to start a job at New York Consulting Partners at Luminant Worldwide . Before I started work in New York, I returned to Venice for a summer internship at ISDGM , a research institute that examines the environmental conditions of the lagoon. You can see pictures of my adventures in Europe. NYCP/Luminant was a small consulting firm located in Manhattan, where I was a supply chain consultant . I live nearby in a great apartment . Just over a week after I moved in, the World Trade Center was attacked, but that hasn't changed my appreciation for the city. In December Luminant laid off half the company, declared bankruptcy and was bought by Lante, another consulting company. I got a job as a waitress at Park Avenue Country Club, an upscale sports bar and restaurant around the corner from my house.
After
five months of looking,
I finally found a "real" job as an environmental consultant at a company
called AKRF, Inc. The most amazing part was
that the office was literally three minutes from my front door, next to the
PACC! In October was laid off from that job (I enjoyed the work, but
there wasn't much of it and ultimately I wasn't a good fit in the company). I was unemployed for three
months, and now am working for the Louis
Berger Group, which is a similar company to AKRF. It is located down
by Wall Street, so I became a commuter! In fact my commute increased when
I moved to Harlem in May 2003. I also began taking classes at night in Interior
Design at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)
in NYC. I hope to become a certified interior designer!
In March 2004 I found a job at an Interior Design company, Manhattan Renovations. I worked there for over six months doing high-end residential gut renovations. After my stint there ended, I found a job as an Assistant Manager at Vintage New York, a wine shop and tasting bar selling all New York wine! It was a great chance to learn about wine, retail, and bartending. Next, I workes as a waitress at Metro Cafe & Wine Bar for about a year. I loved my regulars and learning more about wine. After Metro, I returned my focus to interior design full-time, and currently work at Richard Mishaan Design as a Project Manager/Interior Designer. We do high-end residential and hospitality projects with budgets reaching seven figures. We also have a line of furniture showcased at the A&D building in New York and soon to launch in shops in China.