INTERVIEW - MIKE LENAU '08

Interview With Mike Lenau '08

What was your most memorable moment at CFS?

The Maroon and Grey day stood out for me. It was always a big outdoor day where you competed. There was a pie contest, races and foot races. It was always a fun time because we didn’t have to go to classes and we were outside in the summer just playing in the pool. We had such a good time being with friends. That’s what I remember and I loved it.

What values from Church Farm are still with you today?

I would say a sense of community and working with others, and I don’t think I realized it. We were at CFS, and we were living within a group of 12 to 16 people, and that’s not what a lot of people do. Every day you’re kind of learning how to interact and work as a group because you cannot make selfish decisions when you’re sharing a space with someone. I felt that gave me a huge headstart when I went to college and when we had to do group work. Then later when I went into the workplace where I had to function on a team of 10 engineers who all worked together. I had always felt I was ahead of the curve as far as working with a group of people and creating a bond, getting along and essentially living together. We live together in a real sense at CFS, but you have to live together on a team, project, or group in a figurative sense. I thought that CFS gave me a leg up and made me figure it out, which made me adapt quicker than my peers.

If you could tell your younger self anything about the opportunities in CFS, what would it be?

General advice, really enjoy the time you have with friends. The best part about CFS is it brings people from all over together. But one of the negatives is that after CFS, everyone spreads out again. You can go years without seeing some of your friends. One of my best friends was my roommate, and he went back to Korea after he graduated from college. I’ve only seen him three times in the past 10 years, and it was a huge bummer. So enjoy the time you have with your buds while also trying to balance out trying to get the best education at CFS.

Interview With Mike Lenau '08

What profession do you do? What did you like about it? Is there anything that you disliked about it?

I went to school to become a mechanical engineer. A lot of people have heard about it, but really when you get an engineering degree what you're learning is how to solve problems. They give you tools, which are normally equations, to solve different problems whether its statics or dynamics. Then over four years I become a really good problem solver, so I left college and I think a lot of other people and I were unsure about what we wanted to do with our degree because there is a huge variety of disciplines we can get into. So I got a job at a chemical company called Air Products, and what they did was a vocational program and it was so cool. I recommend it for everyone who can get into a vocational program at a college because they didn’t say you were doing x for the rest of your life, instead, they gave x job for one year, and then you’re going to pick another job the next year. So over three years, I did three jobs and they allowed me to move all over the U.S. to do different jobs, and they paid to move me. I thought I wanted to be a machinery engineer, and now I’m helping a project manager deliver a 3 million dollar purification system with an engineering team. I really liked it, I got the sense of community I wanted and was part of a big team, and I was talking to five or six different engineers every day. While some engineers if you’re only focusing on one path, you might not interact with other people, so I had a very social job and I really loved it. When did you learn computer science?

I took one class in college but I honestly learned it all on the job. That first job in that vocational program, we were in a big room of guys and they were really good at teaching me. To be honest, in this profession, technology changes every day and I learn every day because of it.

Do you have any advice for students who want to work in your field?

I would say interest in STEM is all you need. I was not the best in math or in science, but I was very interested in those subjects. I really enjoyed them although there were a lot of people who did better than me in those classes. What helps you in the industry and the real world is passion. If you can get through the school and you will excel in the field because of your passion.

Have you visited the school in recent years? If so, how has the school changed aesthetically?

I recently visited for the Ringing of the Chimes this winter. My wife and I received an invitation and she’s never been to see one, and we thought it would really cool to go. It was a really good time and it brought back a lot of memories of my buddies who were different characters in the play.

Interview By Amado Rosendo, Alain Huerta, David Alfaro