Meet the New Face of Engineering and Computing:
Stephen Sprague
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Hometown: Dallas, TX
Major: Civil engineering
High School: Lake Highlands HS
Stephen Sprague is a senior Civil Engineering major (December ’07 graduate). Beginning his college career at Loyola University in Chicago with a full scholarship to play soccer (having been an NSCAA-Adidas High School All American) to study Pre-Med, Sprague then transferred to South Carolina strictly to play soccer at a top-tier program, but found that coordinating his science (pre-med) labs with soccer practice wasn’t going to allow him to graduate on time without making drastic sacrifices.
"I had always been fascinated by the construction and design of buildings, lakes, roads, and all infrastructure that allows us to have so many luxuries that we take for granted." said Sprague. "Engineering was the hardest major I could think of besides medicine so I decided on Civil Engineering because I’ve always challenged myself to do the most difficult thing possible."
"I was immediately impressed with my classes from the moment I entered the engineering program. Every day presented a new challenge with a new problem to solve in classes. I also enjoyed the fact that every class I took was taught by a professor."
Sprague explained that while at Loyola, many of his science classes were taught by graduate students which "were good teachers but you felt a since of disconnect from the university and from the educational program. Carolina’s Civil Engineering department’s ability to have its classes taught by the professors is something you can’t find everywhere. The ability to go to the professors’ offices and talk with them one-on-one allows you to build a relationship with them individually as well as allow you to truly understand what you’re learning."
While at Carolina, Sprague was able to be involved in ASCE (American Association of Civil Engineers) and go to the national conference with some fellow students in Chicago, win a Conference USA soccer championship, win a Magellan scholarship for undergraduate research, pass the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) Exam, and leave the university with a focus on academics and a thirst for knowledge, where athletics had previously been the priority.
By earning a Magellan scholarship, Sprague was able to interact with various faculty to research the possibility of creating a new wind turbine to be used along American infrastructure. This research allowed him to learn a little bit from all the engineering disciplines, as well as truly know what he wanted to do after college.
Sprague will be attending graduate school at Texas A&M University to continue to study alternative energy. He hopes to earn a doctorate of Civil Engineering, but reports that his main areas of interest are in alternative energy, economics, planning, and policy. "The tools I entered the college with were only polished by the faculty during my time at Carolina, allowing me to go out into the world with the utmost confidence in myself and my abilities."
