Josh Haupt 1
Josh Haupt
Mr. Sahr
Senior Writing Seminar
2 Feb. 2012
The Master of Contracting, Elke Haupt
With all of the paperwork, meetings and phone calls it entails, who knew contracting
could be someones dream career. For Elke Haupt, it was her pride and joy while in the US Air
Force. Her strong work ethic and love for both math and supervising helped her find the job
very enjoyable. Elke even enjoyed contracting when she was faced with major projects or when
something did not go as planned.
Fortunately, she possesses a love for math, which greatly helped her during her career.
Obviously, contracting involves a lot of math, and as a result, her math skills proved to be very
valuable. Her love for math began when she first learned addition in elementary school. Ever
since, Elke enjoyed and excelled at every math class she took in school. Unlike a lot of people,
Elke enjoyed finding quotes, which the job obviously involved. She even said, “Finding quotes
was my favorite part of the job.”
In addition to her passion for math, she also possesses a very strong work ethic, which
proved to be very valuable during her career. Elke takes her work seriously and strives for her
best in everything she does. She will not stand for mediocrity in anything, unlike a lot of people.
With a very keen eye, she made sure that every contractor completed their job correctly without
taking any shortcuts.
Elke’s strong work ethic and love for math proved invaluable when she was assigned
major projects or when something went wrong. Her job involved managing contracts that were
over one million dollars. Such contracts included the constructions of a new facility on the Air
Force base she was assigned at. There was also a time when one of the contractors Elke was
Josh Haupt 2
working with hired illegal immigrants for a job on an Air Force base. Contractors are not
allowed to hire illegal immigrants for a job on that is on government property. As a result,
immigration ended up taking away all of the illegal immigrants he hired, and she had to find
another contractor to complete the job. Elke says that, “was her most memorable experience.”
Elke Haupt’s interest for contracting makes her a very interesting person, because not
everybody finds that career field interesting. Fortunately, her strong work ethic and love for
math helped her be successful in this career field, which she had many unique experiences in.
Still to this day, she possesses these valuable qualities. She even says, “Contracting was the
highlight of her Air Force career.”
Work Cited
Haupt, Elke. Personal Interview. 16 January 2012.