When Marideth Boswell was a freshman in high school, she needed a class to fill a gap in her schedule. On a whim, she chose “Introduction to Engineering."
That whim has led to opportunities she couldn’t have imagined and a career path that, at the time, she didn’t know existed.
“I just loved the way it challenged me,” she said. “Now my main goal is to be a project engineer, which I knew nothing about, like, three years ago.”
Marideth rose to that challenge, finishing high school in three years while continuing to study engineering and industrial arts. She went on to work on a degree in advanced manufacturing engineering technology and industrial maintenance at Vincennes University, where she completed her studies in April. This fall, she’ll start working on her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.
This certainly wasn’t a journey Marideth expected. An artistic kid who always had pictures stuck to the refrigerator, she said she did not enjoy math in school because it was all abstract problem solving. With engineering, though, the math and problem solving are real and creativity is still a major component of the work. As a result, she ended up loving it, thanks in no small part, she says, to the encouragement she got from one of her automotive instructors, Troy Anderson, who she says, “never stopped pushing.”
Complementing her classroom and hands-on experiences in school has been the time Marideth has spent working as a mechanical maintenance intern with Nucor Corp. in Crawfordsville. Not only has she had the opportunity to spend time welding, turning wrenches, torch cutting and more at a steel-producing operation, she’s also had great support from the people she works with.
“Being a woman in this field, I expected it to be rough to have to deal with guys constantly trying to one-up a woman,” she said. “But I got nothing but encouragement.”
In fact, Nucor has, as Marideth put it on her LinkedIn page, made her an offer she can’t pass up: She’ll continue working there while pursuing her bachelor’s.
If that sounds like a lot to take on, don’t worry: Marideth has proven she can handle a lot. A single mom with two toddlers, she has also volunteered as a manufacturing ambassador for the Conexus Make IN Move program and has toured the state to talk to high school students about opportunities in advanced manufacturing. Meanwhile, she was involved in the manufacturing club at Vincennes and participated in the Conexus Case Competition in 2021. For all of this, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb declared her to be “an inspiration.”
Now, balancing schoolwork and Nucor responsibilities with trips to SkyZone and nature-trail walks with her kiddos, Marideth wants to be as encouraging to others – especially other single moms – as her teachers and mentors have been to her. Her biggest tip? Accept the help and support of others.
“There’s a lot of help out there,” she says. “There’s so many amazing people I’ve met along the way that just help … be willing to take their advice.”
