Dooley Takes Winding Path to the Future

May 3, 2019
Travis Dooley

Travis Dooley figures the best way to know if something is right for him is to give it a try. That approach has brought him just weeks away from finishing his dual MBA/M.S. degree, supported in part by the UWAA U.S. Veterans of War Scholarship for 2018-19. The path that brought him to this point is marked by moments of self-realization about what he needed to succeed.

For instance, when Dooley came to UW from Powell, Wyo., he played for the Cowboy football team. He was on the team for almost two years, but an injury made him reconsider his prospects. “It was a great opportunity, but I knew I didn’t have a future in football,” he says. “I needed to focus more on the classroom than on the field.”

Not long after, Dooley temporarily suspended his studies and joined the Army. “I joined at a pretty interesting time—in 2009, right in the heat of the global war on terrorism,” he says. He spent time at Fort Benning, Ga., and almost four years in northern Italy, as well as a few years in Afghanistan. “It was a great experience, and it made me who I am today. But I realized that I didn’t want it as a career.”

Dooley returned to UW in 2013 and finished his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 2017. He was involved in student government and several engineering societies. Between his life experience and both his parents having earned advanced degrees, he knew education was of the utmost importance. He realized that the dual degree focusing on business and environmental engineering was the logical path for him.

“I’m much more extroverted than most engineers are, and I could tell I wasn’t going to fit the mold of the engineer in a cubicle for 40 hours a week,” Dooley explains. “I wanted to branch out and talk to more than just a computer.”

The next step along Dooley’s path will start in May when he graduates. He’s keeping his options open but is prepared for both international and domestic opportunities. “It is daunting when you first graduate and leave your family,” he says. “I’ve done that once, and I can do it again, though I’d love to come back home again someday.”

 

 

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