鈥業 Knew I Was Very Different鈥�
果冻传媒麻豆社 College of Engineering graduate Alex Schlotterbeck overcomes addiction battle to obtain chemical engineering degree.
It didn鈥檛 take long for Alex Schlotterbeck to look around the room and realize she wasn鈥檛 meant to be there.
The people around her showed little to no regret, no accountability and no compassion for the lives they had impacted leading up to this point. These were addicts who had been incarcerated for years, yet still talked openly about how they couldn鈥檛 wait to get out and use again.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe I鈥檇 landed myself in this situation,鈥� Schlotterbeck said. 鈥淚t was just very hard to process that I had been grouped into this bunch of people. I knew I was very different.鈥�
Schlotterbeck spent two months in jail for a DUI charge as a residual consequence of a five-year on-again, off-again relationship with heroin.
The 鈥渉ellish nightmare,鈥� as Schlotterbeck describes, was a steep freefall for the 果冻传媒麻豆社 College of Engineering student set to graduate in May.
“U of I was always a good value, but then I found out that it also has one of the best engineering programs.” Alex Schlotterbeck
Schlotterbeck had been a successful high school student who finished early, starting a technical program at Chattahoochee Technical College near her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. She was enrolled in the mathematics program and aiming for her doctorate.
Not many college students take a seven-year hiatus, but Schlotterbeck said going back to school was necessary to prove she could recover from the years of abuse she had put herself and her family through.
鈥淚 realized all the damage I had done,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat was a really big eye-opener.鈥�
Schlotterbeck moved to Coeur d鈥橝lene to live with her family and enrolled at North Idaho College before coming to U of I. There, she discovered chemistry and the field of chemical engineering. She said the lab-based coursework and higher starting career wages fit well with her future goals.
鈥淚 knew I wanted to eventually start a family,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n chemical engineering, you鈥檙e able to move in immediately and start working at a higher salary. It just seems like there鈥檚 more room to grow.鈥�
North Idaho College didn鈥檛 offer the engineering courses needed to finish her degree, so she started looking at colleges across the country to transfer.
鈥淚鈥檓 a pretty anal person, and am very conscientious with finances,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 actually put together this spreadsheet that included cost-of-living, transportation, that kind of thing. U of I was always a good value, but then I found out that it also has one of the best engineering programs.鈥�
Schlotterbeck鈥檚 first semester as a transfer student wasn鈥檛 easy. The death of a close friend because of heroin-related complications pushed Schlotterbeck out of her shell.
鈥淚 found people to be very welcoming once I talked to them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have blue hair, tattoos and my head is shaved on both sides. Me opening up helped a lot.鈥�
Her senior class at U of I has since grown extremely close.
鈥淲e have barbecues at my house and we go on trips together,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he help they have been able to provide in classes and working through understanding stuff, I probably wouldn鈥檛 have been able to stick with it without them.鈥�
“Alex is very bold. She doesn鈥檛 hesitate to talk to people and ask for help,鈥� said Soumya Srivastava, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. 鈥淚n this field, it鈥檚 important for women to get out and explore. If you鈥檙e shy and reserved, you won鈥檛 get anything.” Soumya Srivastava, Assistant Professor, CME
Schlotterbeck, who will graduate in spring 2019, said U of I faculty also played a significant role in her earning her chemical engineering degree.
鈥淚 received kindness from all areas,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had a really good experience with every single professor. Everyone was very patient and explained things in a very understandable way. They motivated me to get things done.鈥�
Schlotterbeck was able to participate in many undergraduate research opportunities at U of I, working closely with faculty on several projects involving microfluidic separation, or the use of a cell鈥檚 magnetic properties to control or manipulate it on a microscale.
鈥淎lex is very bold. She doesn鈥檛 hesitate to talk to people and ask for help,鈥� said Soumya Srivastava, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. 鈥淚n this field, it鈥檚 important for women to get out and explore. If you鈥檙e shy and reserved, you won鈥檛 get anything.鈥�
Although relationships have been strained at times, Schlotterbeck said her family and husband Steve have always been supportive in helping her achieve her degree.
鈥淚 have my friends and my family who pushed me to understand my self-worth,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y mom helped push me toward chemical engineering. I鈥檝e always had an extremely good work ethic, thanks to my dad. And during the hardest parts of this degree, my husband was always there for me to cry to and kept pushing me to get back up on my feet.鈥�
Schlotterbeck is going through the interview process for a chemistry position in Yakima, Washington. She plans to travel abroad immediately after graduation with her husband, with plans to visit family in Egypt and travel to Iceland.
Article by Alexiss Turner, College of Engineering
Published in April 2019
