SLO Introduction & Engineering House

Throughout this series of blog posts Team E will be introducing special living options on campus and how you can get involved. A special living option or SLO, is a dorm on campus that houses students who share similar interests or majors. You may apply before your first year (some of them may still be open to you) or research this fall and become a member for next year! Each member of team E has had experience in three different special living options across campus. I will be discussing Engineering House located on West Campus, Makaela will talk about Scheryer’s Honors living on South Campus, and Caitlyn will explain First Year in Science and Engineering in Pollock. We will be going into detail about our living experiences; if you are interested in learning about more SLO’s visit the Penn State Special Living Option website!

ABOUT EHOUSE

Ehouse is in McKee Hall which is on the corner of N Burrows Street and Curtin Road, across the street from Rec Hall and the Lion Shrine on the West side of Campus. This SLO is a co-ed all engineering student dorm that offers housing for each of undergrad education. To apply you can use the link below to fill out a form and write a short essay. To live in Ehouse your second year, you have to become an associate member. To do this you have to attend one of the monthly house meetings and at least one house event a semester. This does not guarantee you a spot but it does put you in front of many other students; this is how I was able to get housing my second year. 

If you live in Ehouse you will be assigned to a committee: social, academic, or THON. Throughout the semester you have to host an event to keep active status as well as getting the required amount of points from the other committees per semester. There are a lot of great opportunities to earn your points through events, from career fair prep to study groups or joining an intramural team. This is also a great time to meet more members of Ehouse and create your engineering network.

PRIME LOCATION

Engineering House (McKee) is right next to Rec Hall where you can workout or go watch many sporting events that are often free to attend. Rec Hall has a regular gym as well as basketball courts and workout class rooms. It is also very close to the Hammond Building and Forum Building. Hammond, which houses the Engineering Library, also hosts many engineering classes. One of which is engineering design, arguably the most important first year class. Forum Building is a common first year class spot. For example many first year chemistry classes occur in Forum. Ehouse is also a less than five minute walk from the Pattee and Paterno Library, the largest and main library on campus. At the library you can study alone or book study rooms which I highly recommend. The library also just got a brand new Starbucks which is a very popular study spot! Finally Ehouse is right next to West Food District, or Waring Commons, which has a dining hall, made to order food, a convenience store, and it’s own coffee/smoothie/bagel shop. West is also a great lunch spot for in between classes since it has a study lounge and lots of seating (and also the best cookies on campus). It might be a good place to consider meeting your friends for lunch or dinner!

LASTING IMPRESSION

Engineering House as allowed me to meet more individuals with the same goals and interests as me. Living around others in the same classes allows you to make quick bonds and have friends for the rest of your college career. Ehouse is also a great opportunity to get leadership experience by being on the board. Many members of the WEPO Leadership Team have taken advantage of this opportunity. In addition to being a great experience, the location has made my life a lot easier. Especially because it was less than a ten minute walk from my AE studio. My ArchE girls should look into Ehouse because it made those early morning and late night walks home so easy! If anyone has questions about Ehouse or SLOs in general please reach out to me I would love to talk about it with you!

By: Alexis Sheeto

Mentor Team E

SLO website: https://housing.psu.edu/special-living-options#EGH

Link to apply: https://www.engr.psu.edu/academics/special-living-options-form.aspx  

Ehouse Website: https://sites.psu.edu/ehouse/ 

Ehouse Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehouse_psu/?hl=en

Schreyer SLO

SLOs are a great way to get involved and meet new friends. One SLO on Campus is the Schreyer Housing. It is the housing for the Schreyer Honors Students but there are many students not in the honors program that live there. Students in all different majors live in Schreyer, so you can always find someone who is in your classes or someone who took it before. The SLO has a great location, many study areas, and has many food options nearby.  I loved living in Atherton Hall the last two years. I met some of my best friends there from all different majors. I still hang out with a bunch of the girls from my floor freshman year.

LOCATION

Whether living there this year or considering it for next year, the Schreyer SLO is a great place to live! If living in this SLO you can either be placed in Atherton Hall or Simmons Hall. Both dorms have very convenient locations in South to get around campus. Atherton Hall is located right on HUB lawn, while Simmons is across the street. For those who want to work out, White Building is right out the front doors of both buildings. Besides easy access to campus, they are very close to downtown. McClanahans and the Student Bookstore are a minute walk away.

https://housing.psu.edu/housing-area-maps

STUDY AREAS

As you start classes, it is very important to find a study space that works for you! It is good to move around and try out different spots. The Schreyer SLO has many great study areas. 

During the day Atherton Hall study areas are open to everyone. After hours though, only those in the SLO have access. In Atherton Hall there is a computer lab that has macs and PCs as well as a printer and scanner. There are also white boards and small tables for group study. The Zombie Lounge is also in Atherton. It is a quiet study area for individual study. The Piano Lounge in Atherton is a group study area where people can be found at all hours. The basement has the rec room with a kitchen, two smaller lounges, and music rooms. In addition to these rooms there are tables and couches in the lobby and ground floor hallways. These were my go to during finals week. 

Simmons Hall areas require access at all times. Simmons also has many areas for study as well whether you live there or have a friend to study with who lives in Simmons. One cool area to hang out and study is The Globe. When placed in the Schreyer SLO you will have the option of applying to live in The Globe. The globe holds many events throughout the year. The floor has a great hang out area where many people in Simmons will go. 

Some nearby study places include Redifer Dining Hall and the HUB, which are perfect if you also need some food.  It was helpful to have so many places to study nearby that got me out of my dorm room without having to walk very far.

FOOD

Living on campus means Meal plans.The Schreyer SLO is in a great location to go get food. It is very close to both Pollock Dining Hall and Redifer Dining Hall (South). Pollock has a big buffet area that offers a wide array of food options. There is also The Mix for smaller to go options (It was just renovated this summer). 

Redifer has a small buffet area, but has many different a la carte options as well, which means instead of all you can eat, you only pay for what you order. It is a lot like a food court in a mall. Urban Garden (Salads), Off the Ground (Coffee/Bagels), Hot & Steel Noodles (Stir Fry/Chinese food), Fresco y Caliente (Mexican Food), In a Pickle (Sandwich/Panini), Redifer City Grill, and Piatto Felice (Italian Food) are all options in Redifer. Additionally there is a convenience store in Redifer. Redifer was my favorite dining hall on campus because there were so many choices that did not require going into the buffet.  And you still get your meal plan discount!

For a little more expensive food, the HUB has a variety of places (Chick Fil A!!) that are a good change up from the dining halls. But at the HUB, you are paying the price you see on the menu so there is not a discount like at the dining commons. If on campus food is not what you are looking for, the easy access to downtown provides a lot of options. Chipotle, Baby’s, and the Waffle shop are just some of the places close to the Schreyer SLO.

Makaela Bigley

Mentor Team E

"The Ritner Experience"

Hi! My name is Caitlyn Longenecker and I’m a second-year student studying architectural engineering. Last year I had the opportunity to live in Ritner (located in Pollock housing area), and I loved every minute of it. Ritner is home to the First Year in Science and Engineering (FISE) Special Living Option (SLO for short), which means that almost the entire building is considered “home” for first year students intending to major in science and engineering. An SLO is a great option for someone looking to find help close to home and make friends with the same interests!

I went into the housing selection with the matching of my roommate left to the Penn State housing gods. I was nervous going into the roommate situation “random,” but it helped knowing that I would be living in the FISE SLO, which narrowed the possibilities. I went into the whole situation thinking, “Wow, I’m gonna live around a bunch of nerds and it is going to be super quiet and no one will want to talk…” but boy was I way off. First of all, it’s a simple equation (we’re engineers, we all love math don’t we!):

leaving the door open = meeting new people = making new friends

I became friends with so many people on my floor (oddly enough my room was one of the few to leave our door open, but we were located right near the elevator, so naturally everyone had to say hi). I was very lucky, my roommate, along with most of the other girls on the floor, were taking similar classes, which made it much easier to ask questions and help each other through some tougher assignments, I didn’t even need to put on a jacket or shoes to go ask them a question.

In FISE specifically, each floor is also home to a Program Assistant (PA), in addition to the RA. The PAs in the building would hold office hours and professional development events for the whole building, where we would be able to talk to upperclassmen in the majors we were interested in. These events were focused in the science and engineering realm, so we were actually inclined to attend because it pertained to what we were interested in.

To keep it simple, I love the location of Pollock. Pollock is close to College Ave, and somewhat located near the center of campus. If we are being honest, the buildings in Pollock don’t look too inviting, some may even venture to say crummy but I like to focus on the character of the buildings. I love Ritner, it just took some getting used to! But then again, what freshman housing, that you can guarantee your residence of, is gonna be sparkly and new?

Ritner is a 7-minute walk from the HUB, downtown and the creamery (which may sound like a lot but oh my, are your legs in for a treat on this campus..). Pollock is close to lots of great study spots, from Redifer Commons in South (hint: go to the floor where the commons desk is, there are tons of tables and it is much quieter than the upstairs) to the Millennium Science complex with tons of classrooms and study spaces in the Huck Life Science Building and Thomas. Even on the ground floor of each dorm in Pollock, there are many study spaces, from larger rooms with tables and whiteboards to smaller quiet study spaces to rooms with couches and tables. I found that a lot of the time when it was raining, I didn’t feel like leaving my building so I would just pick a spot in one of the rooms, put my headphones on and get things accomplished.

Living in an SLO is not for everyone, whether it is engineering related (E-HOUSE, WISE or EASI) or not, but I would suggest taking it into consideration! Regardless of where you live, remember to find study spots where you can be productive, which for me was NOT in my room, and that was perfectly okay. I made an effort to choose spots in nearby buildings and develop a routine to go there between classes and early in the morning on weekends. Whatever you choose, make sure it works for you! College is definitely a time to develop a personalized study plan and techniques, which may or may not work for others, it comes with time! Good luck and don’t forget to visit the Penn State SLO website to learn more!

SLO website!!

Caitlyn Longenecker

Team E Envoy

Getting Started on LinkedIn

How To Get Started On ...

Before I started college, I did not know what an incredible resource LinkedIn was. I hope that this information will help you get started!

What is LinkedIn and why should I make a profile?

LinkedIn is the social media platform of the professional world. It shares the same concepts as other social media platforms, like Instagram: having a profile, posting content, and reading through a news feed. On LinkedIn, you network with people by adding them as “connections”. To add, 9 in 10 companies use LinkedIn to hire people! As a college student, LinkedIn is a fantastic outlet for making meaningful connections and learning about new opportunities. You can follow companies or organizations that you are interested in- even Penn State has their own page! Recruiters may even use your LinkedIn profile as a tool when you are seeking out an internship. Plus, it is never too early to start “building your brand” and create a positive, professional presence online!

Create a Professional Profile

Your profile will change over time as you gain experience doing an internship, working on research, or getting involved in clubs at Penn State! Here are a few steps to lay a good foundation for your profile:

• Profile Picture: LinkedIn found that people with a picture get 14x more views! This picture should be a professional looking headshot of you alone- no selfies! 

• Headline: This goes below your profile picture and is visible when people are searching to add to their network . Make it easy for people to understand who you are with a short statement such as “Mechanical Engineering Student at Penn State University”. 

• Sections: You can choose to add work experience, education, and volunteer work to your profile here! Think of it as your “online” resume. 

Education → To enhance this section, add what “Activities and Societies” you are involved with on campus. A great start is the Women in Engineering Program and you can add more as you get involved on campus! This is valuable because if recruiters see that you have involvement in the same organization that they were in, it might help you earn some bonus points with them!

Experience → Just as you would with a normal resume, add a few bullet points starting with action verbs to define your experience. Remember, every experience you have is valuable because it helps you develop skills that will help you in the future! An example:

Camp Counselor

• Collaborated with camp director to implement daily schedules and curriculum
• Guided students through team building activities 

• Skills & Endorsements: If you are fluent in another language, have special certifications, or know how to code in a certain language, this is a great way to highlight what makes you unique! People that you have worked for or studied under can even endorse these skills so future employers know you are the real deal! (Just make sure to not oversell your abilities.)

Don’t forget- you can continue to improve your profile by learning from what other people did well- always be curious! Aside from all of the networking you can do on LinkedIn, there are so many interesting and informational articles/posts that can give you a new perspective! 

Marissa Beighley 

Team D Envoy 

Career Fair to Internship

Penn State has the largest career fair in the country and you will have the chance to visit all four years that you are in school here. The Women in Engineering Program will help give you all the tips you need to succeed at the career fair! Turning your career fair connections into a work experience can take a little extra time.

You have been to the career fair, talked to companies and handed out all the resumes you printed out, now what? For the most part, it is a waiting game for you to hear from companies, but there are some things you can do.

Reach out to the Recruiters

At the career fair, try and collect the business cards of the recruiters you speak with. Do not be afraid to ask for it from them. If they don’t have a business card, ask for their information and record it on a piece of paper (name, email, and company should be enough). After talking with them, jot down something you talked about. That could be a project you talked about or just something that struck you as interesting or important. As soon as possible, best in the following week or two, send a follow up thank you email to the recruiter. This really shows your interest in the company and also serves as a reminder to the recruiter(s), who have really busy schedules and who talk with many people. When writing, introduce yourself again, your interest in the position in the specific company, and one or more things you jotted down after your conversion with them at the career fair. This serves as a connection for them to recall you and the conversation you had with them. Remember to double-check your writing to confirm that it sounds professional. Another person could check it over for you too. Writing a thank you/follow up card to the recruiters you spoke with, shows them how genuine you are and may help land you that position you want! Also feel free to add a link to your LinkedIn profile to this email. This will allow them to connect with you and also help jog their memory further since it has your picture and your resume on your profile. 

Information Session

One of the beauties of Penn State is all the clubs and organizations that you may get involved with, especially clubs that are within your major. These clubs, such as the Society of Women Engineers, at their monthly meetings, can host company informational sessions. At these sessions, companies will give a presentation about their company, giving a glimpse into the company organization, community, and life. They also leave time at the end of the presentation for any questions. Also, companies may collect resumes and schedule interviews. Often these companies will provide food too! If you are truly interested in the company presenting, it is best to research a little of the company beforehand and be prepared to ask a few questions there. After the presentation, you may be able to speak with the presenters and get their contact information. Like with the career fair, it is best to send them a thank you/follow up afterwards to express your interest in them again and to begin to build a strong connection with them.

A final task after the career fair and before your internship is to polish up your resume, Linkedin page, and continue to practice your interview techniques. You never know when an internship, co-op, or research position may come your way, so it is always good to keep these professional profiles and skills brushed up.

Amanda Clark

Team D Mentor

Dictionary of "Professional" Words

Finding the right words in a professional setting can be difficult, whether on paper or in person. Perhaps these tips can help you feel more comfortable when communicating with other professionals!

General Tips

• When speaking, try to limit your “likes”, “ums”, and “ands”.
• When writing, avoid: contractions, referring to the reader as “you”, and fluff words such as “very” or “really”.
• When referring to your class, say “first year” or “second year” instead of “freshman” or “sophomore”, etc.
• If you can only think of words that aren’t quite professional enough or what you’re looking for, Google search for synonyms. (This helps a lot in resumés if you’re running out of action words)

Picture: Example resumé for first year student distributed by Cheryl Knobloch

Resumés

Resumés are what potential employers look at when considering candidates for a position, whether you met in person or not. Don’t let that intimidate you (we will work on starting one at WEPO)! It can be a great way to set you apart and intrigue your potential employers in you as a person and as a candidate. On the right is an example of a resumé for a first year student.

If you look under this example student’s “Work Experience” section, you’ll notice that each bullet point starts with an action word, mostly verbs. This grabs the reader’s attention and show that you were active in your role.

Here are a few professional words that you can use in your resumé:

• Led (a project…), operated, designed, created, facilitated, produced, implemented, served (as a...), simulated, manufactured, constructed, etc.

Interviews/Networking

Preparing for an interview can be scary. One way to set yourself apart is to have some professional words and phrases ready to go that are specific to your resume. This especially helps if you’re going to describe previous work that you’ve done or a project that you worked on so that you avoid circulating the same three adjectives or nouns. Also, it’s better to find key phrases rather than planning full scripts or paragraphs because they’re easier to remember.

Let’s say that you worked in retail and want to describe what you learned and how the experience helped you grow as a laborer. Here are some examples that could help you articulate your experience:

• I served as a (insert position title) for (company/business name). Through this experience I refined my communication skills and learned to effectively collaborate with people from various backgrounds.
• Example professional words: communicated, acted, performed, volunteered, assisted, tasked, assigned, encouraged.

You may also want to describe a project that you’ve worked on. Here’s (another!) list that can help in this scenario:

• Objective, collaborated, contributed, led, innovated, redesigned, employed, spearheaded, researched, programmed, chaired, participated, designated, delegated, reviewed, revised, ran, obtained, accomplished, achieved, attained.

Your potential employer will understand that you likely don’t have much engineering experience yet, so describing projects that you have worked on or are working on is a wonderful way to connect and show your work ethic!

Don’t be afraid to get creative! You will have plenty of chances to practice along the way! You’re going to have a wonderful time here at Penn State and hopefully these tips can help you on your way to success. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to me at gla5080@psu.edu!

Greta Amidon

Team D Mentor

Best Places to Eat Off Campus: Irving's

Anyone want breakfast for dinner?  How about salad or smoothies? Irving’s is the place to go.  Not interested? Don’t worry there are other sandwiches and the soup of the day there too!   

This is the place for anyone who loves bagels and breakfast sandwiches.  I always get the bacon, egg and cheese bagel with potatoes and a smoothie.  I go there with my friends and we study in the basement downstairs, mostly when it is not busy.  Some of my friends get wraps or salads or Latte’s. I remember my first time going was before a football game and there were so many other people there all decked out in their football gear getting food.  

The location is very convenient being just across the street from Hammond, the College of Engineering building where some long nights could be spent.  But keep your eye on the time, because Irving’s does close at 8p.m.  

The prices are reasonable spending a little over six dollars on a breakfast sandwich.  Other sandwiches do cost a little more, but I believe they are worth it. You can’t go wrong eating at Irving’s. 

Adria Lewis

Team C Envoy

Best Places to Eat off Campus: SNAP

Pizza. You love it, I love it, every person I’ve ever met has loved it. If you’re anything like me, pizza is one of the major food groups and I risk spontaneously combusting if I do not consume pizza for more than 18 consecutive days (yes, this was my personal best for days gone without eating pizza- it was humbling). There are so many places to eat downtown, and a surprising number of spots offer some form of pizza. I am here to spare you the heartache and disappointment of trying all of these slices and give you the details on the best pizza downtown state college has to offer: Snap Custom Pizza. 

Snap Pizza is a delightful make-your-own personal pizza shop on West College Ave, right next to Fiddlehead (which sells salads) and the State Theatre. It is right across from Hammond, so it is in the optimal spot for a pizza loving engineer like you and me. Relatively new to State College, Snap opened last fall semester and offers a variety of specialty pizzas as well as the option to create your own personalized pizza. You have the option to choose from regular red sauce, garlic sauce, oil, pesto- basically any sauce you can think of. Next, you choose your cheese. I HIGHLY recommend getting the house-made fresh mozzarella- for a second you can be transported to Italy and forget that you’re in central Pennsylvania. After that: toppings. Every topping you can think of is available to spruce up your pie. Finish it off with some fresh basil and a dash of oregano, and you get to watch that bad boy go straight into the oven and meet you on the other side. 

If the idea of choosing all of these options overwhelms you, fear not. Snap has a series of signature pizzas that you can choose from as well. My personal favorite is the Margherita: San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil- what else could you possibly ask for? For all the mac and cheese lovers, Snap has a Mac ‘n’ Cheese pizza that actually has noodles and four different types of cheese on top of it. Feeling healthy? Try the Farmers Market, which I refer to as the salad pizza. The possibilities here are endless. You could go every week and never have the same thing twice! Sure, you could spend your money at Canyon and we all love getting Papa John’s at WEP Wednesday, but there is no pizza that can top Snap in all of downtown State College. Go after a football game, on a date, lunch with friends, or even after a tough exam! There is a perfect pizza for every occasion at Snap Custom Pizza.

Sydney Hannah

Team C Mentor

Best Places to Eat Off Campus: Pita Cabana

So you walk all the way to Chipotle, and the line stretches out the door. There’s even a line to get in line for that tasty combination of spice and chicken and sour cream you’ve been craving all day. But today, do you really want to wait? Afterall, you’ve got a lot to finish and you got chipotle last week... 

No need to fret! Maybe it's a sign you should try something new. Right around the corner sits Pita Cabana, a cute lebanese restaurant you never really noticed.

Inside you can get “pitas” and bowls with chicken, beef, or lamb, picking your toppings in a similar style to chipotle. The server usually takes a fresh warm pita, rips it open, and then stuffs your toppings inside before wrapping it. 

Maybe not feeling a pita? You can put any of the traditional middle eastern style meats like kebabs, shawarma, and falafel on salads, bowls, or just take as a side to share.

My personal favorite is the chicken with your typical hummus base, a good amount of Tabouli (the green tomato mixture on the right), feta cheese, banana peppers, lettuce, tzatziki (yogurt) sauce, Shishtawook sauce, and maybe a little garlic mayo. Of course there’s lots I have yet to try...

You’ll definitely feel satisfied visiting Pita Cabana, maybe even a little cultured too :) It’s definitely a (not so) hidden gem that gets a little overshadowed by Chipotle and Bagel Crust traffic.

Gracelyne Allred

Team C Mentor

Best Places to Eat Off Campus: DP Dough

Get in the Zone, Calzone

Penn State is a huge campus with many things to offer! This being said, it makes sense that there are plenty of options to eat- both on campus and downtown. For my first semester, I was totally overwhelmed by the number of places that I could go and the different foods that I could try. Within a few weeks, however, I found one of my favorite places to eat- D.P. Dough. 

Once discovered, I would stop any chance I could, begging my friends to go there over almost any place else. D.P. Dough is a chain restaurant with locations all over the country, but being from a small town, I had never heard of them. They specialize in calzones and have SO! MANY! OPTIONS!! All the names are unique and the fillings are delicious. They range from standard pizza toppings to crazy combinations like the Falling Rock Zone that has bacon, tots, cheddar, mozzarella, and a side of sour cream. The one in State College even has breakfast themed calzones and offers more options than the national website lists. You can even custom build your calzone, picking meats, veggies, cheese, and sauces. 

Their prices are reasonable, too, coming in at about $7 and change per order. This location even has an added bonus- they have a “Zone of the Day” and will offer a specific calzone at a discounted price. It's a college student dream. But somehow, it gets even better. Their hours during the semester are typically from 11:00am to 3:00am- a perfect late night snack. Don’t feel like walking? You’re in luck! They deliver and participate in programs like GrubHub. If you do feel up to walking, they are located in a strip mall right behind McClanahan’s in downtown State College, right off of East College Ave. 

As far as I know, everyone who has tried this place would wholeheartedly recommend. If you enjoy pizza, you will love it here. The quality and convenience cannot be beaten for the price. 

(This was not a sponsored blog :) )

Adriana Walp

Team C Envoy