You did it! You are about to start one the best adventures
of your lifetime and I am so excited that you are coming to Penn State! In the
next four years, you will make a lot of exciting decisions but the largest will
be choosing your major. It may be
difficult to pick just one topic to focus your engineering degree on, or it may
be hard to figure out how to tailor your broad major to your varied interests. That’s where minors come in.
Penn State has hundreds of minor programs spread through
each of its colleges. A minor program
consists of 18 to 21 credits in a specific area that help you focus your
education on a specific topic (or several topics). This area can be anything! You can minor within the College of
Engineering in areas such as Nanotechnology, Engineering Leadership
Development, or Engineering Mechanics.
Or you can minor in a different area such as a language, history, or the
sciences.
I decided to diversify my Mechanical Engineering major by picking
up two minors: Engineering Leadership Development and Energy Engineering. The Engineering Leadership Development minor enables
me to develop the leadership and business skills necessary to succeed in
today’s global economy. I work on
international projects with engineering and business students from around the
world. Through the minor, I travelled to
Budapest, Hungary this summer to work on a village plan for a company in
Ethiopia with Hungarian business and economic students.
I am also minoring in Energy Engineering through the College
of Earth and Mineral Sciences. This
minor allows me to dive into my love for alternative energy and power
generation while still maintaining the valuable skills learned in Mechanical
Engineering.
Overall, minors are a great way to tailor your education to
your interests. Everyone takes a different path to finding the plan that is
best for them so take your time. Explore
the many unique experiences available at Penn State and shape your education to
your interests through a minor program!
Christine Hildenbrand is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and Mentor for WEPO'13! To read more about Christine visit her WEPO Profile:
No comments:
Post a Comment