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Biography

As a young child, Wesley McGee watched his single mom work her way through college earning her bachelors and masters degrees. With this example and that of his engineering brother, Craig, Wesley knew that college was a requirement for him. Highly influenced by Craig, he followed in Craig’s footsteps to become an engineer. He graduated from North Carolina A&T State University with additional encouragement from NSBE. Iowa became home when he visited his brother and met the woman who would become his wife. He now spends time helping youth discover their own brighter future through education, hard work, and determination.

Transcript

Date of Interview: April 28, 2010

Schyler: Hi, my name is Schyler.

Ronald: And my name is Ronald, and we’re at The Four Oaks Bridge interviewing Wesley McGee on April 28, 2010.

Ronald: Are you from Cedar Rapids?

Wesley Adam McGee: No, I’m not from Cedar Rapids, I am actually from Durham, North Carolina, by way of Long Island, New York. I was born in New York, moved to North Carolina when I was about four years old and went to high school there and everything so…

Schyler: Why did you come to Cedar Rapids?

Wesley Adam McGee: Let’s see, I came to Cedar Rapids, first, and foremost, I came to actually visit my brother who took a job out here back in 1995, working for Proctor and Gamble; he’s an engineer there. Came to visit him, and then, also around that time, just so happened to meet who would become my future wife back in 1995 so I actually ended up moving back to Cedar Rapids because my wife made me do it. (Laughing) No, I moved back to Cedar Rapids because I got married and this is the where we chose to make our home.

Schyler: So now Wesley, where did you go to school?

Wesley Adam McGee: Are we talking High School? Are we talking college? Are we talking elementary school?

Both boys: College

Wesley Adam McGee: OK, college, I went to the world famous, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (Aggie Pride) I just had to throw that in there for those people that may watch this. It’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System. It is home to the famous Ronald E. McNair, Astronaut and Jessie Jackson, Jr.

Ronald: What inspired you to become an engineer?

Wesley Adam McGee: Let’s see, I would say the short story would be my brother. Again, my brother, If you ever meet my brother and see us interact , he’s a kind of big brother/surrogate dad, all at the same time. So my brother actually is an electrical engineer; he also went to North Carolina A&T State University. My brother going into engineering made me look at the career for more than what I thought it was. I originally thought engineering was strictly just the guys that drove the choo-choo trains. So, once I found out that engineers basically do everything to make our lives easier, there’s an engineer pretty much in every facet of business now a-days. They’re just called different types of engineers. It was something that became appealing to me. Now to add a little caveat to that, I went to a career fair when I was in high school, I was a senior in high school, actually joined this group called NSBE [Editor’s Note: National Society for Black Engineers], I’m pretty sure you guys will ask me about that later. Joined this group called NSBE, went to a career fair, and while I was walking around looking at the different employers I actually walked by a booth that was actually a CIA booth and I saw all these wonderful things that engineers were doing and I said, “Wow! I want to do that!”

Schyler: Was there anyone who was a role model or a mentor to you?

Wesley Adam McGee: The afore mentioned Craig, would be, that’s my brother. He was as much of a mentor as you could have with that age difference. Now I don’t want to usurp, or to ignore my mother. My mom is a single mom, put herself through college with three boys, got a nursing degree, a master’s degree in nursing, so pretty much, we kind of had a tough mark. My mom went to college; I knew we were all going to go to college, that was the requirement in our house, if you will, so I would say my Mom would be the first role model for us.

Ronald: Were you interested in inventing anything when you were young?

Wesley Adam McGee: When you say inventing things, let’s see, I invented the oh so famous cape out of a pillow case, but I think every kid has probably come up with that one. I used to make little hang gliders out of little clothes pins that you used to, you know, you used to hang your clothes. I used to play with G.I. Joes, always make them little things to make my G.I. Joe’s do stuff, you know, make them slide down a little pulley. I’m a big fan of Lego’s; so I think Lego probably made me want to put stuff together. I was the person that got the Lego’s and deliberately threw my instructions away, so I could figure how to do it by just looking at the picture.

Ronald: What did you do as an engineer?

Wesley Adam McGee: What do I do as an engineer?

Ronald: Yes.

Wesley Adam McGee: I am an answer guy. When I say I’m an answer guy, I provide answers. I don’t care what it is. I am a “Soft ware Engineer” by title , meaning that I write software like the software that you use on your computer, or the software on your cell phone, or the software for going on the internet. I write software for companies to make their jobs easier, to either track inventory or to automate a process. But, I say I’m an answer guy, because being an engineer is all about making difficult tasks more simple, or by improving a process so if someone asks me a question and it’s not software related but I know an answer or a solution to the question or know a way to get to the end without going around the world, I provide those answers. I would say that generally I deal with software and computers but if you ask me a question I generally find an answer

Schyler: Can you tell us about the National Society of Black Engineers?

Wesley Adam McGee: Sure! National Society of Black Engineers is a worldwide organization. We say we’re comprised of, we say black engineers, but we’re comprised of all sorts of nationalities… basically the National Society of Black Engineers was formed by students back in the day, that decided they wanted to help more minorities get into careers in engineering because a lot of us did not realize the careers that were available in engineering. It has grown to a worldwide organization of more than 200,000 members. We are comprised, mostly of college students and, for me, it is one of the biggest reasons why I was successful in engineering. When I was in college I joined NSBE and, quite honestly, if it wasn’t for some of the people in engineering, or in NSBE, I probably would have quit, because at one time when it got really tough for me but there was always someone that had already gone through what I had gone through that I was able to kind of lean on to get an answer or at least get some encouragement to not quit, to not give up. We try to make sure that we positively impact the community. What I mean by that is NSBE is much more than just a group of people that help each other get out of college. When we get out of college we really want to be successful engineers and we want to positively impact the community by giving back in some way. Some ways we give back, we mentor, you know we go to schools, we go to shelters, we go to other colleges and we encourage those that may be thinking about a career in engineering, even if they aren’t necessarily thinking about it, we kind of lay the ground work for, and say, “Hey, this is not something that is out of your reach.” Another thing we do is we definitely do a lot of volunteering, just community related. For instance, I’m pretty sure everybody remembers the flood if they live here in Cedar Rapids. So, us, like pretty much everyone in Cedar Rapids, pitched in and we went out and did what we could to help those folks that were directly impacted by the flood, they lost homes or they lost jobs, you know we’re more about being a positive role model in our community and really showing youth in general, not just minorities, that engineering is a good career to go to.

End of First Video Beginning of Second Video.

Ronald: How has the Civil Rights Movement impacted you?

Wesley Adam McGee: How has the Civil Rights Movement impacted my life? Well, I think it has impacted my life in much the same way as it’s impacted you all’s lives. It’s given us access and opportunity where there may not have been one. It’s given us relationships that were once taboo, that were once out of our reach or not going to be allowed. For instance, without the Civil Rights Movement, you and you, wouldn’t be sitting here interviewing me. Did you hear what I’m saying? Without the Civil Rights Movement I wouldn’t have been in college. The school I would have gone to would have been a historically black college or university. Without those movements, there wouldn’t have been a North Carolina A&T State University. Without those movements we wouldn’t be able to see Barack Obama as President. I think the Civil Rights Movement had basically helped America kind of look at its brutal past and kind of banished it, and bring us closer together. I’m a realist; I don’t think that everyone is ever going to think exactly alike, but I think the Civil Rights Movement has allowed us to communicate and work more together as one community and one people rather than a group of separate nationalities and races.

Schyler: Have you seen improvements in civil rights during your lifetime?

Wesley Adam McGee: Have I seen improvements? Yes. Number one, we have Barack Obama that would be the most obvious example right now, but before Barack Obama there was Clarence Thomas, there was Thurgood Marshall. Before Barack Obama there was Ron McNair, the first black astronaut to travel in space. Before Barack Obama there was colleges, historically black colleges and universities. I didn’t experience the things that, say, my mom or my grandmother experienced growing up in North and South Carolina. By the time I was of age, those things had pretty much subsided or they had scattered to the point where it’s not something I saw every day. So, I would say my overall quality of life and the opportunities I have been afforded have definitely increased exponentially because of the Civil Rights Movement.

Ronald: What are you most proud of?

Wesley Adam McGee: What am I most proud of? That is a tough question because I have a lot to be proud of. I’m proud of my Mom, for putting her needs and desires to the side to make sure that she provided a stable home for me and my brothers, and for teaching us that average was never good enough. I’m proud of my son, he’s a character, if he isn’t his daddy’s child, I don’t know. I tell you, sometimes I look at him and I think about something that he just did and I want to get mad and I say, “Man, if that’s not a small version of me!” I can’t really say much! I’m proud that the things that I’ve done in my life, for the most part, have provided inspiration to others. I ain’t perfect, but for the most part I’ve been able to be an example of what can happen if you persist and chose to not quit. Again, college, college would be probably the other one that I’m proud of because there were many, many times when I could’ve chosen to just quit, because there were many times that it was just hard but I kept hearing in the back of my mind, my mom telling me, “You’re going to get a four year degree. You’re going to get a college degree. You need that college degree in order to be competitive and in order to be able to take care of yourself and your family.” All those times when I, man, I wanted to quit, there were some times, there were some times! I always knew that that I was going to be my aim when it was over. I always knew I was going to get that degree because I couldn’t disappoint my mom. What excuse could I possibly make to my Mom who puts herself through college with four kids or three boys? What excuse did I have if it was just me? I had no excuse. So, I have nothing else I want to make, no, I’m proud of my wife. I’m proud of my wife for being the lady she is and for, you know, caring enough about me to actually take my hand in marriage.

Schyler: What advice would you give to young people?

Wesley Adam McGee: Set your goals high, aim high. I remember when I was in college, I remember there was this phrase that was given to me, that I often use at work that said, “Underestimate – over deliver.”
Right now enjoy being young, don’t grow up too fast. But, if there’s anything you take serious, take serious the opportunities that are afforded to you by your parents, your aunts, your uncles, your teachers, your friends, any opportunity that you have come your way. My mom told me when I was a kid that I only had one job; you know what that job was? Anybody, come on, you gotta know this.

Schyler: Was it school?

Wesley Adam McGee: You got it! That’s the only job my mom told me. And she said, “You have twelve years at least to learn how to be really, really good at it. So that, when you’ve done your twelve years, you can step up to that next level and be really, really good at that level. There is no reason that any of us should underachieve, or even underachieve in school. Outside circumstances that you can’t control, well, you can’t control those. But, you can always control what you bring to the table. You can always control the mindset that you bring when you walk into class, when you get to the bus, when you are faced with problems, or one of your friends, there’s always an opportunity to do more.
This gentleman, Tyler Perry, he is one of the most sought after movie producers and writers right about now. Just six, seven years ago, maybe outside, ten years ago, this man was homeless. He was homeless! How do you go from being a homeless man to a multi-million dollar producer? You decide that you want better for yourself and you put in the work to do it. I don’t think I would be able to do what Tyler Perry did, but Tyler Perry believed that he could do it. Things that you could draw from examples like that are that no situation is too dark that you can’t overcome it. So be it at school, be it in life, I choose to think that there is always a way to escape, there’s always a way you can see out of it. I would advise you guys to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to you at school, at home, at places like here in the “Bridge” and set your goals high. Don’t aim and be…I won’t name a career because I don’t want to take a lot off any career. If you want something, you got to put in the work to get it. So aim high.

Ronald: At what age did you start being an engineer?

Wesley Adam McGee: What age did I become interested in engineering, or what age did I start being an engineer?

Ronald: What age did you start being an engineer?

Wesley Adam McGee: I probably started being an engineer at the same age you guys are here. Remember that question I asked you guys earlier? I started problem solving at a very young age and engineers that’s all they do, they solve problems; they make things easier. Trust me; you guys are further along at being an engineer than you think.

Ronald: Thank you.

Schyler: Thank you for coming and volunteering the time for this interview.

Wesley Adam McGee: Well, thank you for having me and I hope you guys enjoyed it!