I'm Grateful for Purdue!

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Thanksgiving is a great time of the year to sit back and reflect on all that we are thankful for in our lives. When it comes to Purdue, there are plenty of things to be thankful for. Here are a few!



I’m thankful for Starships!

If you’ve ever been on campus at Purdue, you’ve undoubtedly seen the petite, sleek little robots roaming the campus at will. They’re almost as frequent as the squirrels! Not only are these little devices adorable, they’re also important to the Purdue ecosystem. They have an essential duty: keeping college students fed. With the Starship app, students can order from a multitude of places on campus, whether it’s nationally known such as Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, or Panera, or campus favorites like Au Bon Pain, Cosi, or Harrison Grill. While they do serve a noble purpose, their presence also adds to the overall aesthetic of campus. They can be seen navigating the topsy-turvy routes of West Lafayette or patiently waiting at a crosswalk to avoid an unfortunate collision. The Starship robots make campus feel special and also make me smile (whether they’re carrying my food or not) and for that I am so thankful
  • Gabi Layman, First Year Engineering ‘26

I’m thankful for our dining and culinary staff!

Purdue has all kinds of dining options on campus, and I am so thankful for the staff that make them possible. With five dining courts, four on-the-go locations, and countless retail options, it takes a lot of work to keep everyone fed! These staff members – including hardworking Purdue students – work tirelessly to make sure there’s something for everyone, including options for those with dietary restrictions. I am so grateful for all of the options available at Purdue, whether it’s a retail option like Qdoba or a dining hall favorite such as the Wiley chocolate chip cookie. Thank you so much to all of the Purdue Dining and Culinary staff members!
  • Gabi Layman, First Year Engineering ‘26

I’m thankful for office hours!

It is no secret that engineering can be a challenging major. With weekly homework assignments, quizzes, and exams, school can be stressful at times. One way that I am able to overcome the difficulty and excel through my classes is attending office hours. Most, if not every engineering class will host office hours. This is a time where students can come in and ask homework questions, lab questions, or just general lecture questions to a professor or teaching assistant of the course. Many classes will host office hours multiple different times and days of the week, making the process very accessible for students with busy schedules! Whenever I don’t understand a concept in a course, I utilize office hours. It is a great way to meet the teaching assistants and professors. I am so thankful that Purdue gives students this opportunity!
  • Sarah Teehan, CE ‘24

I’m thankful for mentorship!

As with most engineering students, I have had a lot of new experiences since starting my degree at Purdue and have had to make a lot of decisions over the course of my college journey. Some decisions I have made in the past couple years are what courses I want to take, my Civil Engineering concentration, what internship offer I want to accept, post-graduate plans, and more. Since starting college, I have had multiple mentors that have aided me in my decisions and have helped me thrive throughout this process. Purdue offers many opportunities for students to meet mentors in their industry and I have had the opportunity to be paired with an official mentor who graduated from Purdue. I meet with this mentor a few times a year, ask for advice, and hear about their life in industry. On top of that, I have met many mentors through internships that have helped me develop at work and who I regularly stay in touch with. I have learned so much from these mentorship experiences and I hope to one day return the kindness and mentorship that has been shown to me to future Purdue students.
  • Sarah Teehan, CE ‘24

I’m thankful for music!

As a member of multiple band groups, I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for the opportunities music has given me. My first music opportunity at Purdue was marching band. I’ve made lifelong friends, entertained thousands of fans at football games, and gotten to cheer on the bowl bound Purdue Boilermakers. It also teaches me how to properly manage my time, considering the amount of effort and dedication we put into perfecting every show. Also, as a member of GABS, the women’s basketball band, and Box Band, the volleyball band, I’ve had the opportunity to share my talents with more people. Every single Purdue sport has its own distinct atmosphere that you can’t replicate anywhere else. Also, indoor ensembles, including concert band, orchestras, and jazz band, allow for another different and amazing music experience. Thanks to music, I’ve been given so many amazing opportunities at Purdue, and I’m looking forward to many more.
  • Maggie Breyne, CE’25

I’m thankful for FYE!

I’m thankful for first-year engineering (FYE). Coming into Purdue, I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to do civil engineering, but Purdue gave me the opportunity to explore all disciplines. I was exposed to different types of engineering and was given the opportunity to see if anything piqued my interest more. FYE along with both the ENGR 131 and ENGR 132 classes give you the chance to learn how to work in a team environment. I was able to learn more about my leadership style and how I could effectively apply this to working with a team. I deepened my knowledge of excel during the first semester and was exposed to MATLAB for the first time during the second semester. The teaching staff is all wanting to see you exceed and will offer many options for assistance if you so need them. I’m thankful for all I’ve learned in FYE.
  • Maggie Breyne, CE’25

I’m thankful for research opportunities!

Throughout my time at Purdue, I’ve been able to conduct undergraduate research in a few different labs and projects, both within and apart from engineering. Being able to explore different types of research and take on different roles in each project has helped me develop different skills, such as survey design, programming, and data analysis; I’ve also been able to learn about multiple research areas, such as pandemic mental health and infant dust ingestion. I participated in Purdue’s Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURF) program this past summer, and this program helped me grow by allowing me to present my research progress to an audience at the SURF Symposium and write a technical paper. Apart from this program, Purdue offers several other research programs. You can also do research for credit. To get started with research, I would first suggest looking at the websites of faculty members in your major or related fields. Reach out to professors whose work sounds interesting to you. When you eventually begin research, you’ll see that although you may apply concepts and material from your classes to your project, the research process is so much different from the process of doing work for a class, as it requires more critical thinking and can be less predictable in terms of the results. I’d recommend to any engineering student to give research a try at some point during their time here.
  • Lekha Durai, ABE '24

I’m thankful for great study spots!

I love that there are so many different, diverse study spots at Purdue, no matter which area of campus you’re in. I’m thankful that I don’t have to study in one place all the time– I can choose where to go depending on what I’m feeling. If I really need a quiet place to study, I usually choose Krach Leadership Center, the Honors College’s “Collaboratory” computer lab, or the lounges on my dorm floor. Other times, I enjoy working in the atmosphere of WALC or any of the Starbucks locations on campus. Some other popular study locations are Hicks Underground Library and PMU. There’s a study location in nearly every academic building and every residential building on campus. There are several nearby off campus coffee shops to study at as well, such as Greyhouse and Vienna, that make for great places to do homework if you want a varied atmosphere with music in the background and coffee and snacks available. At Purdue, studying can become easier when you can find a perfect spot to do it.
  • Lekha Durai, ABE '24

Recruitment Project Committee


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