Ivy Shockley

Coming out of high school with a strong background in math, Ivy Shockley says she saw pursuing a degree in a STEM field as a potentially beneficial focus for her college education.

After attending Mesa Community College on an honors scholarship, her choice to earn a bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering looked equally promising.

“ASU has a great engineering program,” she says.

Another factor influenced her decision to major in construction engineering.

“I have several family members who work in the same field, which encouraged me to follow the same path,” Shockley says.

She would find the degree program to be especially worthwhile for exploring various options for directions where she could take in the construction industry.

“It was interesting because I was able to explore other areas of engineering that weren’t directly related to my major, she says. “This allowed me to discover which areas interested me most.”

Her decision on a major was reinforced soon after she began an internship in the field.

“I knew then that this was the path for me. I enjoy the work I am now doing every day, which is what everyone strives for,” Shockley says.

Shockley credits her studies and teachers for giving her skills to have a positive impact on people’s lives through her future contributions to the design, planning and building of structures to ensure safe built environments.

“In each semester there were a couple professors who were crucial in helping me figure out what parts of engineering I enjoyed most,” Shockley says.

She is now completing her degree after having so far earned a place on the dean’s list in each semester and will be graduating with summa cum laude honors.  

After graduation, Shockley plans to continue to work at US LBM Holdings, the company with which she interned.

“Engineering is fun because you get to come up with different methods for how to make something work,” she says. “No matter how difficult a problem seems, through hard work and perseverance there is always a solution.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2024 class here.