{"657833":{"#nid":"657833","#data":{"type":"news","title":" A Cap, a Gown, and an Army Commission","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMargaret O\u0026rsquo;Neal grew up in Marietta, Georgia, and often went to Georgia Tech basketball games. And although her uncle is an alumnus who spoke highly of the Institute, she didn\u0026rsquo;t see herself attending Tech initially. Now she\u0026rsquo;s graduating with a bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree in industrial and systems engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think I was overlooking it just because it\u0026rsquo;s close to home,\u0026rdquo; O\u0026rsquo;Neal said. \u0026ldquo;But when I visited, I thought, \u0026lsquo;This campus is awesome.\u0026rsquo; The students I met were cool and doing really great things. Then I realized I could see myself wanting to be like that one day.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer uncle, Vernon O\u0026rsquo;Neal, graduated in 1979 with a degree in economics. Over the years he has been active on the advisory boards of the School of Economics and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Margaret took a different path.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I chose industrial engineering because it\u0026rsquo;s very versatile and you can go into any direction career wise. It teaches you how to think critically and logically and how to solve problems,\u0026rdquo; said O\u0026rsquo;Neal, whose concentration is economics and financial systems. She studied supply chains and logistics and finds it interesting that supply chains are now a popular topic of conversation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I don\u0026rsquo;t think people really thought about supply chains until the store shelves were empty or they couldn\u0026rsquo;t get their package at their door in two days,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;But after they were inconvenienced, they became curious about the factors that go into product delivery. I think it will boost awareness of the field.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe day before graduation, O\u0026rsquo;Neal is commissioning into the Army as a second lieutenant in the first brigade combat team in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. \u0026ldquo;My job is supply chain\/logistics oriented, so I\u0026rsquo;ll be using my major. And I\u0026rsquo;ll get to jump out of airplanes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat she will miss most about Georgia Tech includes football games, proximity to friends, and her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, where she was on the executive board for a year.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I joined the sorority in my first year and it was nice to be immediately surrounded by a bunch of girls who were like-minded and wanted to do well at Georgia Tech,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer advice to current students is, \u0026ldquo;Do not compare yourself to others. Do the best you can. And find out how to do what you love every day.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJoining her to celebrate Commencement will be her parents, grandmother, two older brothers, and her sister-in-law.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The day before Commencement, Margaret O\u0027Neal is commissioning into the Army. "}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2022-05-02 09:43:58","changed_gmt":"2022-05-02 14:22:18","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-05-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-05-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"657834":{"id":"657834","type":"image","title":"Margaret O\u0027Neal ","body":null,"created":"1651485547","gmt_created":"2022-05-02 09:59:07","changed":"1651485571","gmt_changed":"2022-05-02 09:59:31","alt":"Margaret O\u0027Neal near Tech Tower ","file":{"fid":"249352","name":"DSCF6118_Original.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSCF6118_Original.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSCF6118_Original.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":402724,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSCF6118_Original.jpg?itok=PVk_e141"}},"657835":{"id":"657835","type":"image","title":"Margaret O\u0027Neal","body":null,"created":"1651485725","gmt_created":"2022-05-02 10:02:05","changed":"1651485753","gmt_changed":"2022-05-02 10:02:33","alt":"Margaret O\u0027Neal with fellow Army soldiers","file":{"fid":"249353","name":"IMG_2089.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_2089.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_2089.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1335193,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_2089.jpg?itok=w8-xQydR"}},"657836":{"id":"657836","type":"image","title":"Margaret O\u0027Neal","body":null,"created":"1651485909","gmt_created":"2022-05-02 10:05:09","changed":"1651485944","gmt_changed":"2022-05-02 10:05:44","alt":"Margaret O\u0027Neal and her family","file":{"fid":"249354","name":"IMG_2039.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_2039_0.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_2039_0.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1614241,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_2039_0.JPG?itok=MOKGWjUM"}},"657837":{"id":"657837","type":"image","title":"Margaret O\u0027Neal","body":null,"created":"1651486094","gmt_created":"2022-05-02 10:08:14","changed":"1651486117","gmt_changed":"2022-05-02 10:08:37","alt":"Margaret O\u0027Neal with her Uncle Vernon and Aunt Valerie at a Tech game.","file":{"fid":"249355","name":"IMG_9746.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_9746.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_9746.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":762513,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_9746.JPG?itok=vOdrCl_q"}}},"media_ids":["657834","657835","657836","657837"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/","title":"H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"426","name":"isye"},{"id":"190489","name":"Margaret O\u0027Neal"},{"id":"125911","name":"Vernon O\u0027Neal"},{"id":"3336","name":"army"},{"id":"10132","name":"commission"},{"id":"168083","name":"supply chains"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}