Given one more year of eligibility after graduating in May 2021, Elijah Harris returned to PSU and in doing so achieved two dreams: he earned a playoff ring by helping the Gorillas complete a perfect regular season as one of the team’s eight captains.
And in the classroom, he completed a master’s degree in engineering technology with a 4.0 GPA.
Next up: After commencement this Friday, No. 15 will begin a career at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City, Missouri: a company of engineers, construction professionals, architects, and designers focused on critical infrastructure.
Starting out
Harris excelled at science and math at Pittsburg High School, where he also was a Class 5A All-State player.
He became enamored with the world of plastics engineering technology in college.
“I knew I wanted to get into some type of engineering – I just wasn’t sure what kind,” he said. “A couple of friends were majoring in plastics and a family friend encouraged me, so that’s what I chose.”
The program boasts a 100 percent placement rate of students after graduation, and it’s a key component of the recently begun PSU Polymer Chemistry initiative, which provides students research-based opportunities at the Kansas Polymer Research Center.
Faculty in the department frequently are invited to speak at conferences and are called upon for their expertise. Students have been chosen for prestigious internship research opportunities at firms and agencies across the nation. Alumni have gone on to impressive careers from coast to coast.
As an undergraduate, Harris found an excellent mentor in Paul Herring, a longtime professor in the Plastics Engineering Technology Department who teaches processing and injection molding and oversees state of the art labs. As a graduate student, Jeanne Norton became his mentor and took what Herring had taught him to the molecular level.
“I really liked all my professors, especially those two, and having them mentor me and help me understand how things worked was all very interesting,” Harris said. “You look around and our world is plastic, and I liked how what I was learning applies to all facets of life.”
Balancing it
Internships first with Harold Payne Plastics in Shawnee, Kansas, and then Polytainers in Lees Summit, Missouri, took his education to the next level and helped him connect with alumni who worked at those companies.
“I learned a lot about the industry side, and it was so beneficial to get that experience and see new processes,” he said.
It wasn’t easy: summertime is conditioning time for football players, and that meant getting to his internship early each day so he could leave early enough to get conditioning hours in.
“I wanted to be consistent, and that meant prioritizing and being very disciplined,” he said.
He continued that discipline throughout his graduate studies. He also credited faculty, who he said were helpful in working around his demanding football schedule.
“Working on my master’s, I was in practice and meetings from 2 to 6 p.m. and then went to classes after that,” he said. “My strategy was to always work hard to stay ahead on assignments.”
Inspiration and motivation
Harris said he was inspired to keep reaching by his mom, family friend Chris Curtis, and his longtime girlfriend Molly, who graduated from PSU with a degree in elementary education in 2020 and now teaches.
“I knew I wanted a master’s degree for higher pay and opportunities, and they encouraged me,” he said.
That degree helped him land a job on the Burns & McDonnell mechanical design team as an assistant mechanical specialist.
“The way they talked about the company, I felt like there was a lot of similarities to football — it’s an employee-owned company, they work as a team, and the harder they work, the more they get rewarded and they can see the results pay off.”
Harris will be doing computer aided design in the food and beverage focus of the company.
“They design whole layouts of new facilities — where machines go, where electric work and plumbing goes — for big companies,” he said. “I’m excited because I’ll be doing projects in a way that will mean not every day is the same.”
Ready for the next chapter
Harris said he feels a sense of ease at transitioning to the next phase of life; he is proud of what he accomplished both on and off the field and is ready to start his professional career.
“I did everything I could to enjoy football, play football, and the one thing I wanted was to get a ring and we did that,” he said. “Hopefully Pitt State is back to where we need to be and that feels good.”
He is leaving with a sense of gratitude.
“I appreciate everyone, everybody who has followed my career — and those on the team, especially the seniors. We truly appreciate the journey, we loved how it ended, but we still want to see PSU go to the next step, so please keep providing that support to the team,” he said. “You don’t know how much it helps.”
He plans on being an active alumnus by returning to PSU to attend games as often as he’s able.
But he likely won’t be at commencement.
“I’m not walking Friday,” he said. “I gave my cap and gown to one of my teammates who needed it.”