Hit another big milestone in my CDT preparations today: my last day as a Devon employee.
Despite living for 4 years and graduating high school in Artesia, NM, where there is a heavy oil and gas industry presence, I had no interest in pursuing a career in the industry when I left for college in 2007. Fast forward to August 2013, when I took the picture above, and I still had no idea that a few months later I would be working in that building (Devon Energy Center in downtown OKC). After being unable to find a job in meteorology post-college, a friend suggested I try applying to some energy companies in OKC. In Feb. 2014 I started a job with Devon working in their downtown skyscraper. Working for an energy company in a 50 floor skyscraper was something I never would have imagined just a few months prior.
Although it was a completely different path than I had imagined, it has been a great place to work for the past 7+ years. I have worked with some great people, and there have been some great memories from my time there, including:
- Flying on the corporate jet.
- Great seats at Thunder games.
- Spending time in the field for the area I worked learning about field operations and getting to know some of the field personnel.
- Participating in a Wyoming Conservation Corps project with some coworkers.
- Combined birthday/Christmas party my first year (there were 3 of us in my immediate work group with birthdays around that time).
- United way fundraisers (including mini golf on our floor).
- Getting asked what floor I work on when I tell someone I work in the Devon tower.
In addition to some great memories, later in my employment it allowed me the financial means to buy a house and make it my own, and the financial means and time off to get in a couple big backpacking trips each year and start participating in art shows.
Seeing as a good chunk of my scholarship money for college was related to oil & gas, it seems fitting that I was able to contribute to the industry for a bit, particularly with a company that has a large presence in Artesia and in Wyoming (the state where I lived most of my childhood). I’m grateful for the experiences, relationships, and the place it has brought me to in life. It was a difficult decision to give this job up, and today is definitely bittersweet, but I’m excited to start this next adventure. I know I will have a lot of my coworkers following along and cheering me on, which will be a great motivation to help me push through the tough times on trail!
Brent Umphlett Photography Blog 