Why WiE Love the Women in Engineering Living and Learning Community
Looking back at my First Year Engineering experience through my first few semesters on campus, I can confidently say that applying, and ultimately, joining the Women in Engineering Living and Learning Community (WiE LLC) in Meredith South has been the best decision I could have ever made for my transition from high school to college. Joining this community has helped me in so many facets of my life, whether it was making meaningful friendships, experiencing trips that I never would have expected to go on during college, or utilizing resources that helped me for my various classes.
Starting out with the living accommodations and background, the WiE LLC has participants living in the all-women residence Meredith South Residence Hall. Here, you will be placed in a double, triple, or quad room with other women engineers in the program. Right when I moved in, I met two of my current best friends who I regularly hang out and study with. Having the opportunity to meet other engineers right off the bat has been super beneficial to my learning, as all engineers go through similar FYE requirements, so it was not hard to find other girls who were in the same lectures, recitations, and labs as me. Because of the WiE LLC, I already had a consistent study group. Living in Meredith South made it much easier to get help with my math, science, and engineering 10000 and 20000-level classes because of the Women in Engineering Tutoring Program in Shreve Residence Hall. Shreve just so happens to be a short walk (about 4-5 minutes) from Meredith South, making it easy to go from classes, back to Meredith South, and off to tutoring for additional help.
For a more exciting experience exclusive to the WiE LLC, participants get to attend yearly trips to cities like Indianapolis and Chicago. For example, in my Fall 2025 semester, I traveled with a group from the LLC to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (IMS). At the IMS, we heard from two inspiring women (both graduates from Purdue Motorsports Engineering) about their time in the motorsports field. After the panel and tour of the museum and racetrack, we traveled to downtown Indianapolis, where our group walked around and saw the beautiful sights of the city. Even better, the Indianapolis trip was where I got to meet another close friend of mine who wanted to go into the same engineering major as me, allowing me to broaden my network. The Indianapolis trip is not the only opportunity for the year, as there is an upcoming trip for the Spring 2026 semester where another group of LLC participants get to travel to Chicago and go on an engineering architecture tour of the downtown area. In between those two major events, the LLC hosts numerous smaller events. One of those events, for example, is the WiE LC Eats & Exploration monthly event. During Eats & Exploration, various upperclassmen speak about their time in their engineering disciplines. Every month there is a new group of engineering disciplines, so LLC participants will get the opportunity to explore different majors. In these events, food is provided. My favorite food options were when they served Insomnia Cookies and Chipotle!
Finally, my favorite experience from my time in the WiE LLC was my one-credit ENGR 19400 seminar during my Fall 2025 semester. This seminar is required for all participants in the WiE LLC, and it ended up as my favorite class at Purdue so far! In this seminar, students listen and network with one guest speaker alum every week. The weekly guest speakers have different engineering disciplines every week, so this seminar really helps first year students explore different kinds of pathways for both their academic and professional future. The reason why I believe this is the best experience to have in First Year Engineering is because of the inspirational stories you hear from all kinds of successful women who have all graduated from Purdue. Some of them even talked about their time in the ENGR 19400 seminar when they were in college, and hearing that they once stood in my shoes made me feel invigorated. In this course, I learned that it was okay to sometimes struggle in coursework, and I can still be successful if I kept working towards my goals and improving through a growth mindset. To reiterate, every week there was a different discipline of engineering or a different field of work that a speaker would present about (i.e. space exploration, medical devices, supply chain, etcetera). Moreover, every other week TA’s host workshops. At these workshops, I learned all about time management, prioritization of classwork, and how to properly study for my classes. These skills are fundamental for a successful semester, and I find that I implement these skills from ENGR 19400 in my Spring semester here at Purdue.
All in all, I highly recommend that when given the opportunity to join the WiE LLC, you should absolutely take it! It is an experience I would never trade for anything, and it is only for your own benefit. My perspectives on my potential for various careers and engineering disciplines really blossomed because of the Women in Engineering Program, and I hope yours can too. This year's priority deadline for Living and Learning communities is April 15th, 2026, and you must have already accepted your offer of admission to apply. I hope to see you next semester, Boiler Up!
Nicki Gieseke, FYE '29
WE Link Leadership Team
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