Kate Zenzel (‘97)
Public Affairs
NYS Department of Transportation

Kate Zenzel (’97) came to Broome to update her skills and get a better job. She had been working as a mechanical drafter before she took some time off to raise her family, and when she wanted to go back into the work force, she realized her drafting skills were obsolete. She entered the Civil Technology program to make herself more marketable. And it paid off.

“After I graduated from Broome, 3 days later I was working full-time in a small business in Binghamton as a quality control inspector, Kate said.”

She worked for a year at that job, and then took a position as Public Affairs Coordinator at the Regional Department of Transportation office in Binghamton, where she is now. In her administrative position at DOT, she works with all the departments within the organization.

“If there is a construction project going on and it’s going to affect people, I keep the media and the public informed about how it is going.”

Her hard work has paid off and she encourages other people, especially women, to try the Civil Engineering Technology major.

“There is no program at BCC that hands out diplomas; you have to work for it,” She says.

Kate continues: “You’ve got to go there. There’s no way that you can say that if you study and participate the way they ask you that it’s not a challenging program, because it is.”