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TESTIMONY OF
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee on Veterans’
Affairs. I would like to start off by telling you a little about my childhood. I grew up in the small town of Montgomery, TX (one hour Northwest of Houston) under the mentorship of very involved and loving parents. My Dad was in Law Enforcement and my Mom was a grade school teacher. I have one sister who is 18 months younger and, despite being enemies as kids, we have grown quite close in adulthood. My childhood was very stable. In fact, my parents, after 31 years of marriage, still live in the same house in which my sister and I were brought up. Since the age of 13, I was on a mission to attend a US Military Academy. I was a very serious and determined young woman and did everything within my power to reach that goal. I became involved in almost every school club, ran cross country and track and was a straight A student. After graduating from Montgomery High School as the Class Valedictorian on 25 May 1996, I was on my way to Beast Barracks (West Point’s Basic Training). On 26 May 2000, after a very demanding four years, I graduated from the United States Military Academy with a BS in Civil Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. After the Engineer Officer Basic Course, I was assigned to the 94th Engineer Battalion based out of Vilseck, Germany from December 1999 to August 2003 then to the XVIII Airborne Corps based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina from August 2003 to January 2006. I was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina and to Iraq twice, holding positions in construction, project management, and force protection. After deciding to transition out of the military, I found the job market very receptive to junior military officers. I was personally contacted by over five military placement firms with numerous employment opportunities. In addition to placement firms, I attended a Joint Service Academy Career Conference and posted my profile on the Service Academy Business Resource Directory and several public job search engines. With the assistance of placement firms, I interviewed with and was offered positions at four different companies. After interviewing with ExxonMobil in December 2005, I knew I had found my future career track. ExxonMobil was the right fit for me for many reasons. First of all, ExxonMobil held my experience in the military in high regard and counted it towards my employment status, allowing me to sign on as an experienced hire. It felt great knowing that ExxonMobil appreciated my hard work and years of service in the military. Secondly, my background and passion is in project management. ExxonMobil offers endless opportunities to become involved in extremely diverse and interesting projects worldwide. I also find the culture here very similar to that in the military. ExxonMobil is formal and very process oriented with strong, ethics-based standards of business conduct, making it a comfortable transition for me. In addition, ExxonMobil hires with a career-focused mindset and immediately starts career development. Location was another deciding factor in my job search, and by being a largely Houston-Based Corporation I am able to build a home-base much closer to my family. Finally, the compensation is unmatched. They offered me a very competitive base salary with benefits including a relocation allowance, pension plan, 401K with matching stock option, and solid medical benefits. After nearly three months with ExxonMobil, I am extremely pleased with my decision to become a part of this team. In a short time, I have already worked on two extremely large and unique projects, attended two, week-long training courses and learned more then I could have imagined. I thrive in a challenging environment in which I am constantly learning. ExxonMobil provides that for me, and I look forward to a long and productive career with this company.
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