Do EON Too!

Jill Holloway

Hi WEPO girls!!!  I am so excited for WEPO 2011, and I can’t wait to meet all of you in just a few short weeks!  As the summer winds down it is always a bittersweet feeling.  I love the warm weather and the freedom from homework, but I also can’t wait to get back to Penn State and start another awesome school year!  My name is Jill and I am a junior in Civil & Environmental Engineering, emphasis on the Environmental Engineering.  I live in Paoli, PA and I spent my summer working and taking classes at Penn State Brandywine.  I love to swim, snowboard and just spend time with my friends.  Ok, enough about me, time for the real topic of interest.   

All of you have obviously heard about and signed up for WEPO, but you may not be aware of another program call EON, or the Engineering Orientation Network.  It is a one day orientation open to ALL first-year engineering students (so yes, boys are allowed) on Sunday, August 21.  But act now, because this offer only lasts until August 1!!!  And, if you sign up in the next 15 minutes we will give you a free breakfast and lunch!  Just kidding, everyone gets free breakfast and lunch!  You can register HERE!

So, why should you sign up for EON when you already have this fabulous orientation called WEPO? 

·         You will have even more first-year engineering students and upperclassman to network with.  Although women are more prevalent in engineering majors than ever before, it is still a male dominated profession, and at EON you will have the opportunity to meet first-year male engineering students in addition to more women engineering students.  You will soon realize that the more people you know at Penn State, the smaller and quainter the campus feels.  I can’t walk five minutes between classes without seeing someone I know.  Just saying “Hi” with a smile can really brighten my day! 

·         You will be doing different activities than WEPO, so it won’t feel like a repeat.  EON’s goal is to familiarize you to Penn State and the College of Engineering, while meeting as many of your peers as possible.  We have four sessions throughout the day that each group will participate in 

o   Icebreaker- The goal is to meet as many people as possible in a short amount of time, and that’s all I will say, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.  It is going to be super fun, so make sure you don’t miss out

o   Major Discoveries- Going to a professor’s office hours can seem like the most daunting way to study, but it can also be the most effective.  This session will let you meet professors from your major and ask them any questions you have about classes, exams or that major

o   Scavenger Hunt- Practice makes perfect.  The more you walk around campus the sooner you will learn your way and not look like all the other freshman carrying a map on the first day of classes

o   Computer Session- Are you baffled by Angel, eLion, or Webmail?   This session will give you a head start on your peers at understating these strange and confusing websites Penn State uses

·         You will have another mentor to reach out to and another group of people to do fun activities with!  Upperclassmen are filled with advice and knowledge for you to tap into.  They have already made the mistakes and figured out the keys to success, so use them as a great resources for anything from study tips to suggestions on what clubs to join

·         And honestly, who wouldn’t want to hang out with this group of people?  (EON Board of Directors)