The Engineering Experience

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Jessica Callinan Writing this blog post I can still hardly believe that I have graduated from the greatest university on the planet. It seems like just yesterday I was packing my car to drive to West Lafayette, Indiana and start my journey as a Boilermaker.  Everyone told me when I graduated high school that the next four years would fly by, and I brushed this off, thinking that there was no possible way that four years in college would go by fast. Looking back now, it feels like I just started, and I can hardly remember that it has been four years. Every moment has blended together and there are too many memories to count. I can't even imagine not moving back to Purdue next fall. Graduation is one of the most exciting times of your life. Unlike high school graduation, college graduation is a huge step in your life. The transition from college to the professional world is unlike any other transition in life. You go from having classes, hangi...

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Kat Frangos I remember the first time I saw the Purdue campus.  I was 17, and a junior in high school.  My mom and I were visiting to see if I wanted to apply the next year.  We got lost.  I tried to discretely pull out a map, embarrassed to be seen as a visitor.  A student saw me and my mom, and stopped to ask if we needed help finding where we were going.  We told her the building we were looking for, and she gave us great directions.  During the rest of our visit, I fell in love with the red brick buildings, the green spaces, the compactness of campus, and most of all, the friendliness of the people.  I knew then that Purdue was the place for me, the place where I could fit in and be successful. I have a somewhat unique perspective of Purdue, in that I have experienced life at Purdue as a student, as an alumna coming back to visit campus, and now as an administrator.  My love for Purdue runs deep and I ble...

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Emma Mann Without even knowing very much about the program, I applied to join the Mentees & Mentors Program (M&M) the summer before my freshman year of college.   I hoped that it would allow me to build connections with other students and gain some insight into what was ahead class-wise. It ended up being just that. M&M is a program offered through the Women in Engineering Program (WIEP) that helps to foster mentoring relationships between female engineering students. This program allows students to share advice about engineering classes, college life, and career goals. M&M offers two distinct opportunities to get involved: Pair and Group. Pair matches a younger student with an older student based on major and personality in which the older student mentors the younger student. Group is less defined and set-up such that everyone has the opportunity to learn from everyone else. Additionally, group offers a small group option, in which ...

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Catherine Courchaine On Friday, April 18, twenty of my friends and I hopped into cars and started the drive from West Lafayette to Washington, D.C. Ten hours later, we arrived to join 1200 other Air Force ROTC cadets from all over the nation for the National Conclave of Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings (NATCON). Purdue University Arnold Air Society 2014 Washington D.C. Hotel We spent three days fostering camaraderie, professionalism, and leadership skills with old and new friends. Listening to speakers from the Cadet Commander to General Mark Welsh III, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force gave us great insight and motivation to finish the semester strong. Some of our cadets even got to meet General Welsh! General Welsh with Purdue University Air Force ROTC cadets  We held elections for our new National Staff and began planning next year's NATCON, which will be held in Chicago! All 1200 cadets experienced a formal military dinner...