Let’s Talk Mentors!!

Hi everyone!  My name is Kenna Markel.  I am going to be a fourth year in architectural engineering at Penn State this year!  I still can’t believe I’m going to be a senior – believe me you’ll be one before you know it!  I have been spending this summer living and working in San Francisco for a general contractor called DPR Construction.  I’m packing up to come home next weekend, and WEPO will be here before we know it!

So before I was in architectural engineering at Penn State, I was really struggling to figure out exactly what I wanted to study.  My freshman year I switched from civil engineering to biomedical to aerospace back to civil to biological then marketing and finally to architectural.  Now, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.  Working in the industry again this summer confirms that this is exactly what I should be doing, but I never could have done it without my mentors.  I say mentors because it isn’t just one person, but many – my own little personal team of mentors!  To be your best here at Penn State you’re going to need mentors as well.  People who will give you advice on scheduling, buying books, and career fairs; someone who will encourage you to take risks and set goals.  Fortunately, by making the decision to come to WEPO you all have a mentor who has been assigned to you along with an entire team of mentors ready to help!  This gives you a great head start! 

Mentoring relationships come in many forms.  They can be as formal as being assigned a mentor, but they don’t have to be.  I personally found some of my best mentors on my own.  I’ve found that generally people are always willing to give advice you just have to ask.  I’m saying because with WEPO coming up so soon, there are incredible women on this leadership team and they are great resources for all of you.  If you hear any of these women say something throughout WEPO that interests you, please REACH OUT TO THEM!  We all would love to talk to you about it!  Whether it’s at WEPO or after, send us an email, and we can set something up!

Most importantly though, use your mentors!  Freshman year is a huge step and a huge change!  Find someone who you can go to when you have questions or if you’re having a hard time!  We all want you to excel and have a great freshman year!

So a little bit about my mentors, as I mentioned I wouldn’t be an architectural engineer student without them.  Two WEPO women sat down with me at WEPO’12 just before my sophomore year, and wrote out a new schedule for me with all the required architectural engineering classes.  They handed me this new schedule and said, “take this and bring it to Prof. Moses Ling, and he’ll put you in.”  Despite the classes being full and it being the Monday of syllabus week, sure enough, Moses hooked me up!  I’ve been an AE ever since, but I never would have had the courage or ability to switch into these classes that year without these women!  This is just one example of many times my mentors have come to the rescue! 

We are all so excited to meet you all at WEPO next week!  I hope you’re all getting excited for your first year here at Penn State!  It’s going to be an amazing year!

Kenna Markel is a senior in Architectural Engineering, and she is a Mentor for WEPO '14!