This year on January 14th, STEM Sophomore Noah Kanger was sitting face to face with Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. The meeting was a birthday gift given to him from his uncle for his 16th birthday. Kanger also met with Cheyenne, Wyoming Mayor Patrick Collins and other city and county leaders including the Director for engineering and manufacturing for Laramie County Community College and a board member for LEADs Cheyenne.
Kanger says each individual he met with during his trip went into full detail about exactly what they do for the community. One of the topics of discussion was how Wyoming community leaders are trying to drive more people to go into manufacturing and engineering. Also pointed out was the effort to approve a new Microsoft data center which will bring in more high-paying jobs to the city and state. Kanger says Mayor Collins talked about what he’s doing to try and make Cheyenne a better and safer place for the homeless including those who are veterans. Governor Gordon spoke of his reasons for running for Governor and what both state leaders and his administration is doing about Wyoming’s water rights.
Kanger was grateful for his experience and says everyone he met was humble and fairly easy to reach out to. Kanger’s uncle works with the Wyoming city and state leaders and arranged the meeting.
A big part of the trip for Kanger was to gain some knowledge about potential career opportunities in the future. As of right now, his plan is to enlist in the U.S. Army following graduation and eventually go into law enforcement. During his Wyoming trip, Mayor Collins suggested that he join the Wyoming National Guard to help fund college and then go into active duty following college. Kanger is also entertaining the idea of joining the Cheyenne Police Department after he finishes his service with the Army and was told that CPD is always on the lookout for good police officers.
“Getting to meet everyone that makes Wyoming, Wyoming was an amazing experience that I will never forget.” Kanger said. “And (it was) a birthday that I will never forget. I am looking forward to meeting all of them again in the near future.”
