A former hairdresser is now a reactor operator at INL. Here’s how she did it

IDAHO FALLS — Aubrey “Mya” Peterson dropped out of high school, got married, had kids and ended up a struggling single mom of three, but a life-changing decision put her back on track.

Peterson is the mom of three boys, ages 18, 16 and 14. The path Peterson took to get to where she is now is one most people wouldn’t pick if they had the choice. The former hairdresser traded in her scissors and curling irons to become an Experimental Power Reactor operator at the Idaho National Laboratory.

“What am I going to do now?” Peterson recalls thinking to herself. “It was either try to go and do something else, or just continue to work in a bar or a restaurant as a waitress.”

With her youngest child about 7 months old, Peterson became the sole provider for her family. A friend of hers owned a beauty school in Green River, Wyoming, and she decided to give it a shot. Her parents lived nearby and helped watch her boys while she went to school full time and worked part time as a waitress and a bartender.

In 2007, Peterson graduated from Southwestern Beauty Academy. She had a successful first year working in the business, but she wanted to be with family, so she moved to St. George.

“At the time, they (St. George) had a population of about 70,000 people,” Peterson said. “They had three beauty schools, each popping out about 50 students a year. The market was completely saturated, so I tried to make money, but I did not make a penny.”

Peterson moved after about six months, this time to Seattle. She worked there for a while renting out a booth and as a salon manager. But when the reason why she moved there in the first place — a relationship — went south, she picked up her bags and family, yet again. In 2012, she found herself in Gillette, Wyoming, making $12 an hour doing hair.

“I was like, ‘You know, this is not working for me,'” Peterson said. “Every time you move, you lose your entire clientele. There’s no reciprocity.”

She was ready for change, but she wasn’t sure where or how to begin until she ran into a friend from high school she hadn’t seen in 13 years. He told her he was in school, and she asked him how he afforded it. He told her about FAFSA and Pell Grants. The conversation led Peterson to walk through the doors of Northeastern Wyoming Community College District.

“I didn’t even have a real clear vision that I was definitely going back to college,” Peterson said. “But I walked out like an hour and a half later with a schedule.”

Peterson remembers sitting there and randomly deciding she wanted to become an engineer and follow in her dad and grandfather’s footsteps.

“In ‘Legally Blonde,’ she just decided one day she was going to go to law school, and I just decided one day I was going to be an engineer,” Peterson said. “Needless to say, I got a few giggles from people that knew me.”

Peterson spent the next two years learning math. She enrolled at the University of Wyoming, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Her dad then encouraged her to apply for a job at the INL. Even though she wasn’t offered a job the first time go-around, she didn’t quit.

Her personality and dedication, despite her challenges, are what stood out to INL ATR Operations Assistant Manager Kelly Zimmer, who interviewed and hired Peterson.

“All of those things are why (we hired her),” Zimmer said. “I get regular reports from our training department on how our students are doing. She did well in class. She is driven and motivated, and I expect that she will do very well.”

Peterson’s been at the INL since February and wraps up training this month to start shifts in January. She will help with the operations of experiments in the advanced test reactor, a structure that tests materials and nuclear fuels.

“Truly anything is possible if you have the will and the grit to do what you want to do,” Peterson said. “It’s very hard, but you can do anything.”