Gerard Pechal - Reservoir Engineer at XTO Energy
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EDUCATION:
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For my favorite college memory, I remember feeling comfortable and confident that this was the right career path for me, so I never let anything get in the way. Timing played a big part of it, but I was also very interested in the degree curriculum so there was never any doubt. Unfortunately, not everyone feels this way in college. I've had countless experiences over my 6 years with ExxonMobil. I started in Houston working with international subsurface and subsea support groups, working with brilliant people all over the world. When we acquired XTO Energy in 2010, I became the first engineer to cross over and learn operations, and have been working out of Fort Worth ever since. It's been remarkable witnessing the integration & evolution of both cultures, and learning first-hand about the importance of efficiency and effectiveness especially during tough times in the market The SPE-GCS scholarship of course helped with tuition, but most importantly it came with an eye-opening Anadarko internship that encouraged me to keep pushing for more. Before then I had no idea what the professional world would be like... so I got a glimpse in the life of a successful engineer and learned quickly that PE was my golden opportunity. From that point on I did everything in my power to reach that finish line. My advice to students is that grades are very important, but you must also work on yourself... Get internships. Join business clubs. Attend seminars and training. Do everything you can to better yourself, because your career success will depend so much more on you as a person than it will what's on paper.