The Engineering Experience

Dear Recent High School Graduate, Saying the last four years have flown by is an understatement. It feels like just yesterday I was starting this journey, arriving on campus for the first time, nervous of the unknown yet excited about what the future held for me. Yet just four days ago, I walked across the stage at Elliot and received my bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, ending my undergraduate journey, and preparing to start a new chapter of my life. Once again, I find myself nervous yet excited as I start this new chapter of my life, similar to where I was four years ago. I won’t lie to you: I delayed writing this blog. Not because I did not want to or did not know what I wanted to say, but because writing this blog meant that I had to admit that this incredible chapter of my life was over. Purdue has truly become a second home to me over the years, and I would not trade this experience for the world. Before you come to campus and get your chance at living your own versi...

Each year, Purdue Women in Engineering mails out hundreds of handwritten, personalized postcards along with an information handout and a sticker to each woman who has been admitted to Purdue Engineering. The designer of the current sticker is student Olivia Baehl. Olivia Baehl is a senior in Civil Engineering with concentrations in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering from Evansville, IN. She is an ambassador for the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering as well as an active participant in the Women in Engineering Program. I sat down with Olivia and reflected with her on her experiences at Purdue. Olivia Baehl (CE '25) and the sticker she designed. Why did you choose Purdue?  “I grew up a Boilermaker, but that's not why I chose Purdue. I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue engineering and the variety of engineering disciplines that Purdue offers is what initially drew me in. I knew that I’d be able to find exactly what I wanted to choose as a career. Add...

Coming into my senior year as a civil engineering major at Purdue, I have had the pleasure of having not one, but two amazing internship experiences in my time here. In my case, although both internships were with the same company, they were both extremely different. My first internship was in design with Kiewit Oil Gas and Chemical Engineering in Houston, Texas, where I worked as a structural engineer intern. My second internship was in construction with Kiewit Building Group in Honolulu, Hawaii, where I worked as a field/office engineer intern. Looking back, here are some tips I would tell younger me when it comes to hunting for an internship. Building Up Yourself Obtaining an internship, especially as a first- or second-year student, can be intimidating, especially if you don’t have any experience. In my own experience, I did not have an internship after my first year. I took this to my advantage and worked while taking online classes to get ahead on my classes, which proved ...

After all of that hard work in high school, you did it and got into Purdue Engineering. The transition from high school to college can be a tricky time, but with some sisterly advice from someone who has been in your shoes not too long ago, you’ll thrive here. Here are my four best tips on that transition. Olivia, my younger sister who is an incoming first year engineering student this fall. Believe in yourself! Engineering can definitely be a daunting major, as I personally was really nervous about going into engineering as an incoming student. It was strange for me to go from an environment where everything came naturally to me to one where I had to work a little harder outside of the classroom to truly understand the concepts. This was a hard adjustment to make, as it seemed like everyone around me knew what was going on. But the more I got to know my classmates, the more I realized how similar they were to me and that we all were feeling the same way. It is important to ...

Choosing a college is not an easy choice.  Sometimes it can be hard to differentiate between schools once you look past cost and location.  When it came to my college search, I found out that if I asked the question “what makes this school different from the others?”, I could better compare schools. Here were a few of the things at Purdue that were unique compared to other schools in my eyes. The Women in Engineering Program The main thing that stood out about Purdue to me was how personable the women in engineering program was to me. Out of all 12 schools I applied to, they were the only school to send me a handwritten postcard.  After I found out I got in and got my postcard, I then reached out to the women in engineering program to ask for a one-on-one tour, as during my senior year of high school Purdue’s regular tours were not going inside buildings and I wanted to see what a typical classroom would look like.  The women in engineering program then personally co...