Avoree Gore, Lake Land College alumna who transferred to RoseHulman credits Lake Land for her success in the engineering field and preparing her for the job she’s always wanted as a Hydraulics Engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Hair dresser turned engineer credits Lake Land for educational and career opportunities
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ne of the best things about Avoree Gore’s new job as a Bridge and Hydraulics Engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation District V in Paris is that her commute to work is now only 15 minutes long.
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Being a wife and a mother of two, Gore’s choice of going back to school after a career in cosmetology for seven years meant commuting long distances to and from school and being away from home more often. “I never even considered that after starting a family and having a two-yearold and a newborn that I could come back to college and ultimately get a four-year degree,” said Gore. Gore initially enrolled at Lake Land right out of high school and earned a Cosmetology Certificate. However, the odd hours and stress of owning her own business led her to return to Lake Land College in 2004 at age 26 with her site set on a two-year technical certificate. “My decision to come back to Lake Land was a life changing moment,” said Gore. “At that time, I wasn’t even
considering a four-year degree. I just wanted a quick turn around to be able to get back into the workforce.” It was with the guidance of instructors in the Math and Science and Technology Divisions that Gore decided even with a young family at home, she would change programs and enroll in the Civil Engineering Technology Program, a transfer program aimed at getting students to a four-year degree, in order to transfer her credits and earn a bachelor’s degree. “I was always good at math and science and graduated as valedictorian from high school,” said Gore. “And funny enough, I had no idea I wanted to be an engineer.” According to Gore, it was instructors like Bambi Jones, mathematics instructor, and Tonia Timlin, physics instructor, who saw her potential and inspired her to pursue a career in engineering. “I never took a physics class before Tonia’s, so I was very nervous,” explained Gore. “But she was so encouraging and understood what it was like to be a woman and a mother while at the same time trying to
crack into the engineering field.” For her first ever physics class, Gore did pretty well – she received an “A” on the final exam. Another advantage for Gore in the engineering program at Lake Land was that the classes were small, so she got to know her peers and work through the material in a group setting, which she said prepared her for the real world working environment. “In this line of work, we do everything as a team, so having that small group working environment while at Lake Land gave me an advantage when I transferred,” said Gore. After she graduated with an associate degree in Engineering Science, Gore applied to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. and the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, where she was accepted to both. She said she chose to enroll at Rose-Hulman because it was closer to home and had smaller class sizes, two things that reminded her of Lake Land. “At no time during my educational career at Rose-Hulman did I feel unprepared or out of place,” said Gore. “But I can be certain that without the preparation that Lake Land provided, I would have been overwhelmed.” Gore also said that because of the financial aid opportunities at Lake Land, like Foundation Scholarships, the BOOST Scholarship and the Talented Student Award, she graduated from Lake Land debt free. “Having those financial aid opportunities available to me at that time in my life was an integral part to my success,” said Gore. “Another perk was because I made good grades at Lake Land, when I transferred to Rose-Hulman, my tuition cost was lowered.” In 2009, Gore graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rose-Hulman. After that, she worked as a project engineer for HWC Engineering in Terre Haute, Ind. where she was responsible for studying water resources and supervising construction and design projects. Gore moved on to IDOT in Effingham before she transferred to District V in Paris where she says she has landed the perfect job that uses her background in water management and project design, and of course, is close to home. 15