Hey Ladies! Welcome to your very first set of team blog posts, and welcome to Team A! My name is Kaitlynne and I am a Senior studying Chemical Engineering. As a first year engineer, one of the most important things to do is to get involved in clubs and organizations. My hope from this blog post is to get you excited about three of my favorite clubs on campus: Engineering Ambassadors, the Society of Women Engineers, and CHAARG.
Engineering Ambassadors is a professional development and outreach organization within the college of engineering at Penn State. Engineering Ambassadors are able to reach out to prospective students by giving tours and talks about the college of engineering at Penn State. Engineering specific campus tours are given in both the fall and spring to prospective and accepted students. You may have even been given a tour from an Engineering Ambassador during your college search. The other aspect of Engineering Ambassadors that is super exciting is STEM Outreach. Our organization runs a wide array of K-12 outreach events locally and across the state. Young students are taught about STEM concepts in order to get their minds thinking about a STEM career path in the future. Through Engineering Ambassadors, our members also have access to networking events with our sponsors. The organization requires a lot of soft skills such as communication, presentation, and teamwork skills that are sought after by many companies. Therefore, we are also a professional development organization that helps build these soft skills while networking with companies. This organization requires an application and interview (to see your passion for engineering!!!) so be on the lookout in the spring semester for this if you are interested!
The Society of Women Engineers, SWE, is one you will probably hear a lot about through WEPO and from the women you meet here. SWE and WEP are different in that SWE is a student run organization of which Penn State SWE has a chapter that is nationally recognized. WEP is a resource at Penn State to all women in the college of engineering run by the office of outreach and inclusion (by Cheryl Knobloch who will become one of your best resources). SWE has events of many different types including general body meetings sponsored by a company, professional development events, social events, service events and outreach events. We also have our own special interest organization that benefits THON. SWE gives many opportunities for you to get involved in the community while also giving you the opportunity to network with current members and Penn State SWE Alumni. Another great aspect about SWE is that there are SO MANY areas to take on leadership positions. As a first year women engineer, you will be able to apply for a chair position. We have 30+ chair positions that you will be able to apply for within the first few weeks of the semester. From there we also have director and officer positions that allow you to apply your leadership skills in the following years. SWE is a great organization, and my engineering family was met through this organization in combination with WEPO. I hope to see you at our events in the fall! :)
Outside of the college of engineering, I am involved in a women’s workout club called CHAARG. CHAARG is my break away from engineering work and orgs, and allows me to get rid of built up stress from the rigors of engineering. Engineering is not easy and can add stress to your life, but the most important things to do are: 1. Get involved in clubs like CHAARG that are your break away from engineering. And 2. Remember that you are SMART and you are NOT alone in your struggles you may encounter. CHAARG allows me to stay fit and take care of myself while getting that break, and gives me strength and motivation slay all of my engineering classes. The club has small groups that meet once a week to do a workout or grab lunch or just hang out, then have spotlight workout events once a week that are both on and off campus. Overall, I love the ability to get away from engineering for a bit each week while also staying in shape. I encourage you all to look into this club if you enjoy working out and being motivated to work out by others :)
Kaitlynne Crawford
Team A Mentor
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