After WEPO, now what?!

So you have the opportunity to move into your dorms early, head to Penn State (of course the greatest place on Earth) early, and then get surrounded by over 180 girls and barely get time to rest because you’re schedule is so jam packed. And why are you doing this
again?? You get the opportunity to walk out of WEPO connected to 52 upperclassman girls in engineering, see people you are guaranteed to see in your classes and major, and even
make a close knit group of friends!

True, WEPO might make you tired, but hey, welcome to college! Sleep is overrated because getting your work done, rocking your classes, and enjoying your life is what college is all about! You have your classes starting on the 22nd and you’re going to realize some weird things that no one told me about, so I figured, I should share them with you so you don’t look as silly as I did!!

Some weird things for me to adjust to were:
1) If you have to go to the bathroom, you just get up and go… you don’t raise your hand and ask your professor, you just...go...

2) When you’re done with a quiz/exam and there’s nothing else to do in class, you get to leave! This is strange but when you get this figured out, you're going to love when you get out early! P.S. I definitely stayed sitting in my classroom after my first exam until class was over because no one told me this fact!

3) STUDYING???!!!! Are you kidding me? I had to study, READ my math book (have you ever read
a math book? Well you're going to start now!) and learn how to do it during those times that you have free, including between classes.

4) I can go to my room, in the middle of the day?? To be honest, I still have a hard time with this one and I’m going into my 5th year…

College is all about learning, whether it’s academically, emotionally, personally, or physically, that’s what you’ll be doing. Because of WEPO, you have a great mentor who will help guide you through these learning challenges. In the end you’ll look back 4 (or maybe 5) years later and realize wow, I’ve come a long way! Welcome to the journey! You’re going to have an amazing time!

Athena Abate is a Super Senior in Electrical Engineering. This year, she serves as Lead Mentor for WEPO 2011 and is also involved Phi Sigma Rho, Engineering Ambassadors and the Career Envoys. She has co-oped with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and had an internship with The SI.
Elizabeth (Liz) Krauss is a Sophomore in Architectural Engineering. She will be a WEPO Mentor this year and is also involved in Vole and SWE. This summer, she had an internship with Gilmore Group in New Britain, PA.