The elderly couple was trapped in their home, unable to dig out from more than one foot of snow that overwhelmed the Buffalo area in late February. Their power had been out for more than 48 hours, and the wife was down to her final bottle of oxygen. Was help coming? McKenna Radel '26 reached them first.
McKenna chose to attend Pace University out of high school and enrolled in nursing. It took the Saratoga Springs native only a few months to realize she was in the wrong program at the wrong school.
"Nursing just wasn't my cup of tea, and I wasn't enough of a city slicker to fit in at Pace. Everything was fast-paced, and I felt like just another person in a big place."
She consulted her friends from high school, and everyone who chose Siena raved about their first-year experience. That was enough for McKenna. She found the right school, but what about the major?
A friend of the Radel family, Brandy Rousseau, is the project management director for Northline Utilities, a provider of construction and related services to the electric utilities industry. When a storm, for example, wipes out power, Rousseau mobilizes a team to the impacted area and manages the recovery. McKenna, who never wanted to work behind a desk, thought that sounded pretty cool.
"I shadowed Brandy for a day and really liked it, so she gave me this amazing opportunity. Whenever there's a widespread power outage event, I receive a text message. If I respond that I'm available, I get told told what hotel to report to and when."
In the past year, McKenna has been involved in the utility response team for three major blizzards, two in Connecticut and one in Buffalo. McKenna and a partner drive to reported areas of damage, and they relay back what they find. It could be downed power lines, blown transformers, etc. They drive where others don't or can't, and their intel informs the deployment of technicians. McKenna is also given addresses of individuals in the impacted area who, medically, require power. That's how she ended up at door of a Buffalo couple in desperate need of assistance.
"I called it in right away, and we were able to get someone to their house in less than 30 minutes."
These experiences led McKenna to declare a major in project management. She's now at the right school and in the right program for her.
"So many opportunities have come my way since I transferred to Siena. I was asked to be the management representative for the School of Business, which I happily accepted. I have also been working toward induction in the National Society of Leadership and Success! Plus I've made amazing friends, and I've made connections with professors who have gone out of their way to provide me with incredible opportunities."
One of those opportunities was an internship this past summer at Ubiquity, a digital infrastructure management company based out of North Carolina. The internship was set up through Nicole Hall, visiting instructor of marketing.
"There aren't a lot of women in the utilities space, and I like that I could help change that and encourage other women. Who knows where I'll end up, but I'm really happy with the opportunities I've gotten, and I feel so grateful to be at Siena."