Sleep --- Not a Maybe, But a Must!

I honestly think it took me twenty years of trial and tribulation to understand the importance and value of a good night’s rest.  College often poses extra challenges in getting enough rest; we’re pressured to take on anything and everything, there is a lot of work to be done, and we still want and need time to eat, exercise, and tend to our mental and emotional health.  But all of that hardly matters when there is not enough gas in our engines.

Take it from me----a 5-hour sleep is hardly a good night’s rest: it’s more of a glorified nap.  Most studies recommend that adults receive 7-9 hours of sleep every evening for optimal energy levels the following day.  And while it is super easy to talk the talk, walkin’ the walk is far harder (take it from me!).

When I transitioned into my second semester, classes started to pick up and I became more involved in student organizations on campus.  In my mind, that translated into: “Hmmm…. I guess that just means I’ll need to toughen up and drink that 9:00pm coffee to get me through!”  With this mindset, I often went to bed anywhere between 1:30 am - 2:30 am, feeling drained and fatigued upon hearing my 7:30 am alarm for my 8:00am class.  After 2-3 days of this pattern, I found myself barely able to pay attention during lecture and caring less and less about the activities I normally loved to do. 

Now---I know everyone is different.  Some may only need 6 hours to feel on top of the world.  Others need 9-10 hours to even function. We all have a different internal clock. Regardless, prioritizing sleep (especiallyyyyyyyy before exams!---*hint hint*) is vital to success; we will not only feel more alert, motivated, and productive, but will also find our days are filled with much higher-quality experiences! 

One of my friends recently shared some really awesome insight with me: he said that ever since he could remember, he always prioritized his 8-9 hours of sleep each night.  In doing so, everything else---his grades, responsibilities, and relationships---all fell into place, and he felt no setbacks because of this priority. Kind of a counter-cultural thought, but one that is quite remarkable and noteworthy!

I don’t want to be hypocritical in the slightest---I am still learning how to do this.  I often find myself pushing my bedtime back and back until I reach only 5-6 hours of sleep that my internal clock really doesn’t like.  It takes discipline, plain and simple. But establishing good habits early on is key, and soon, you’ll be an expert!

So the next time you find yourself making excuses for staying up later and later and later, think about that uplifting sensation after a night full of rest and recovery!

Megan Vareha

Team N Mentor

Yoga and Meditation: Get Your Zen On

Coming into college, your priorities may look something like this: make friends, join clubs, get good grades. While all three of these are important, it is also necessary to maintain life balance through other activities like yoga and meditation, for example to help keep you from getting burnt out through trying to juggle all these activities.

When I first started at Penn State, I made a pact with myself to do mindfulness as much as possible and to attend at least one yoga session a week. This was my way of maintaining some mandatory relaxation and reflection time. Although I had a background with these activities, you definitely do not need to have any experience in order to get your zen on! 

Thankfully, Penn State offers a wide assortment of wellness classes through the gyms and also through CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services). Additionally there are weekly yoga classes in the IM and White gyms on campus (which are FREE to students). My first semester on campus, I went to yoga and pilates classes three times a week MWF on my lunch break! They also have yoga classes at UHS (University Health Services) in the evenings that are less physically intensive and more relaxing and usually in the evenings, which can be great after a long day of studying.

College classes can be tough and time consuming, especially as an engineer, but I can not stress how important it is to take some “mandatory me time” and decompress. What I have found is that you always have time to take an hour or two every couple of days for yourself. That does not always have to be through yoga or meditation like it is for me. Maybe your mindfulness comes from giving yourself a spa day or just taking a walk outdoors. Planning out your time wisely and getting into the habit of thinking through your life and living it with intention instead of letting it pass by can help boost your productivity, lighten your mood, and ultimately help you get your zen on!

Lauren Onweller

Team N Envoy

Get Out of the Library and Get Inspired

Since the time we were little, most of us remember running straight from school to practice, grabbing a quick snack, then running to another activity or meeting, quickly eating dinner, an hour or two of homework, and passing out as soon as our head hits the pillow. We are so used to going, moving, practicing, participating, and performing. But who teaches us to slow down? Would we know what to do if we didn’t have an activity scheduled for every hour of the day?

You may look at your class schedule for the first semester of your college career and wonder, “What the heck am I going to do with all this free time?” That’s definitely what I thought. You mean, I don’t have to spend seven straight hours locked in a concrete building with the same people I see every single day? Here’s the truth: you will finally have free time. Lots of it, actually. How you spend it, though, is tough to figure out when everything in your life has been scheduled since you were a wee tot kicking around a soccer ball the size of a coconut. 

My first semester, I went from playing three sports and leading four different clubs in high school to going to class for about three hours a day and then--nothing. I was confused. Completely out of my element. Bored, even. Bored? You’re telling me I’m about to come to one of the biggest universities in the country and I’m going to be bored? Well, not necessarily. I was getting my foot in the door with a few clubs like SWE (Society of Women Engineers), Engineers Without Borders, the Engineering Undergraduate Council, and Bridges to Prosperity. I went to maybe four meetings a week, applied for some leadership positions, and was content. I went to the gym when I felt like it, played pickup games of basketball with friends when they wanted to, jogged with my roommate occasionally... 

It wasn’t until my second semester that I finally realized what was missing. And it wasn’t even me who figured it out. A girl down the hall (who is now one of my very best friends) asked (forced) me to go with her to a workout with the Penn State CrossFit Club. I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me. I didn’t even know what CrossFit was and I was definitely going to humiliate myself. I’d never lifted a barbell before. Isn’t CrossFit mostly for dudes? Long story short, I was very wrong. 

The Penn State CrossFit Club, like many other clubs at Penn State, became my second home. I was making close friendships with people who were completely different than the people I was meeting in my major. I found people who pushed me to prioritize exercise and stop spending too much time in the library. I started pushing my body, feeling more energized, and became an overall happier person. In high school, exercise and nutrition were such important parts of my life and I completely neglected that part of my personality when I got to college because I thought I needed to focus on academics all the time. Today, I’ve gained about 10 pounds of muscle (the freshman 15 isn’t always evil!!) and a fresh perspective on work-life balance. 

Penn State has so many opportunities to make friends, move your body, and get healthy all at the same time! There are fitness classes hosted at the White and Intramural Buildings every week (hot yoga on Sunday nights is definitely my favorite). IM sports teams run in packs all over campus. Never tried racquetball before? Now’s your chance! Club sports build families of students who spend almost too much time together - shout out to my PSU CrossFit fam! And, maybe sports aren’t your thing. Maybe you like to stretch in peace in your dorm room and walking to class is enough exercise for you. That’s totally okay too! Penn State offers over 1000 student organizations, and you will have the opportunity to check almost all of them out at the fall involvement fair on the HUB lawn! My advice is this: know your body and treat it well. Step outside your comfort zone. You owe it to yourself to set aside one hour every day to do what you love. Get out there and live a little. Find your PSU family too!

Lucy Spicher

Team N Mentor

Netflix: How much binging is too much?

One ice breaker question I can bet you heard at NSO is “What is your favorite show on Netflix?” You will probably be asked this at WEPO too. Coming into my first year I was worried that I would spend too much of my free time watching shows in my dorm instead of getting involved and making new friends. 

While there were definitely times over my freshman year that I may have spent too much time watching The Office or binging the new season of Santa Clarita Diet while I should have been studying, after my first few weeks I was able to find groups and clubs that were a better use of my time and better for me as a whole.

If you are worried about finding clubs on campus or making friends those first few weeks like I was, there are many resources for you in order to find groups and clubs that fit to your interests. One of the biggest events to find something to fill your free time is the Involvement Fair which occurs at the beginning of the semester. At the Involvement Fair there are hundreds of booths that feature club sports, THON Orgs, and clubs for almost every interest you can think of from community service to coffee to beekeeping. After talking to members of groups I was interested in, I was able to try out different clubs by going to meetings and seeing what was the best fit for me. If your schedule doesn’t line up with the Involvement Fair, all the student organizations are listed on Penn State’s website along with contact information so you can reach out and get involved.

Another great resource for learning about what Penn State has to offer is your WEPO leadership team! We are all here to help you transition into your first year and all want to see you thrive, so don’t be afraid to ask questions about an organization or club that you think you might be interested in because we probably can connect you to someone that’s involved. When I was a mentee, my mentor helped me out with finding clubs I would be interested in and for applying to be on a THON committee which I am so thankful for. 

While there are definitely times that call for a turning off of your brain and relaxing to an addicting show on Netflix or Hulu (theHandmaid's Tale anyone?), I really encourage you to put yourself out there and try new things to get yourself involved on campus. Even try watching some of The Office with your new friends. So get out there and get involved! I can guarantee you won’t regret it and will be able to make some new friends along the way. 

Rachael Owens

Team N Envoy

The Summer After Freshman Year--Study Abroad!

This summer, I studied abroad for two weeks at Ecole Centrale Nantes in Nantes, France. For this program, we stayed with host families that live close to the school which was a great way to experience the culture! We had dinner with them most nights, and ate out with our teachers and other students the other nights. We had one free weekend to do anything we wanted. Nantes was a small city that had a lot of great food and fun things to see. The group was on the smaller side, with only 11 students. This was great because we had a lot of one-on-one direction from the french professors in our engineering design class. 

One of the best things about Penn State is all of the study abroad programs that are offered!! Planning a study abroad can seem overwhelming at first, but with a little bit of research and guidance, it can be quite straight forward. Start by visiting the global penn state website to create a list of steps for planning. If you think you might want to do an engineering study abroad program, then visit the engineering study abroad website at global.engr.psu.edu  A great resource is Study Abroad 101, a presentation and online module that provides an overview of studying abroad through PSU. A great next step is to meet with both a peer and academic adviser. A peer adviser can offer great advice and insight while the academic adviser can help you determine what programs will fit with your academic plans. Global Engineering Fellows have office hours during the week on the 3rd floor of Kunkle Lounge in Hammond building where you can drop in to get some advice or ask any questions you might have about studying abroad in every step of the process. Each of the Global Engineering Fellows has studied abroad at least once and they are trained to help others find their study abroad program. There are a few global engineering fellows on the WEPO Leadership team so you will see some familiar faces there! 

There are many ways to start researching different programs. I first recommend looking into which universities and programs have courses for your specific major. You can do this using the global engineering penn state site under student resources-find your program. Here you can choose a specific country that you’re interested in or browse through the selections under your major. Penn State has three different categories of study abroad programs:

• The first are semester long programs where you would be enrolled in a foreign university for a semester. Most you can choose either Spring or Fall, but some are restricted to only one of those. 
• The next is summer programs. I highly recommend summer programs for the summer after your freshman year. It is a great way to spend your first summer of college before you have internships that may take priority. These can be any length of your summer from 1 week to the whole 3 months of summer!
• The third is embedded programs. Most embedded programs require you to take a course at Penn State and as a part of the course you will travel to another country for project implementation or further exploration beyond the classroom. Many of these embedded programs are faculty-led which means your professor or faculty member will be leading the trip. Some embedded programs may be during a break like during fall or spring break or they could be between semesters like in the winter or the beginning of summer. 

Once you decide on a study abroad program, you can begin financial planning. A great way to do this is by visiting the study abroad scholarships page. Here, you can find scholarships through Penn State and external ones as well. There are some specifically for engineers or for specific countries as well! They also offer tips for success to help you plan. 

Penn State offers many great programs that fit into everyone’s schedule differently. It is important to plan with an adviser to ensure that studying abroad will not defer your graduation date if you want to graduate on time (it is possible, even for us engineers!). 

A great resource that Penn State offers is a pre-departure module through canvas that teaches you all about safety traveling abroad and issues such as culture shock. It can be very simple to fit a study abroad program into your studies, as long as you start thinking about it early and plan ahead. Feel free to ask me any questions about my trip or how I planned my adventure in France!

Cynthia Letting

Team M Mentor

The Summer After Freshman Year--Leadership

There are so many opportunities in the summer, the challenge is figuring out what you want to do. Leadership is a great way to give back, grow, and learn. You could do something in your community or even something through Penn State if you can’t get enough Blue and White. A lot of these leadership roles allow for time to do other things too like study abroad, take classes, work, or relax. Some of the leadership options for after your freshman year in Happy Valley include being an NSO leader, LEAP mentor, or WEPO envoy.

 

NSO leaders are instrumental in helping new students and their families transition to life at Penn State. Many of us have experienced NSO and may remember what it was like. You would have to take a one-credit leadership course during the spring. If you’d like to get more involved and have an impact on incoming first year students I encourage you to look into the requirements and application process!

 

If NSO isn’t your style, maybe consider becoming a LEAP mentor. LEAP stands for Learning Edge Academic Program. This is a great program that allows you to more actively take part in a group of freshmen’s transitions to college during summer session. LEAP mentors help to schedule study sessions, organize social events, introduce students to the different resources at Penn State, and lead their assigned pride which is a small group of about 24 students that take two summer classes together. You don’t need to have participated in LEAP yourself to become a LEAP mentor. I myself participated as a LEAP student and loved it! The requirements and application process can be found online if you’d be interested in helping freshmen transition into college life.

 

 Another amazing leadership role you could do over the summer is apply to become a WEPO envoy! As a WEPO envoy you get to help put on WEPO and be a role model for the upcoming freshman women in engineering. There are only four days that you have to be at Penn State (the day before WEPO and the three days of WEPO) for this leadership role so this means you could go on other adventures with your summer while helping to impact the next class of incredible engineers. There is an application process that Cheryl will email to you when it gets closer to summer 2020. If you want more information about being an envoy, you could talk to anybody on the WEPO leadership team. I’m a bit biased but becoming a part of the WEPO leadership team is one of the highlights of my college experience! I have grown so much while making connections to my inspiring engineering peers!

These a just a few of the amazing leadership opportunities at Penn State during the summer! I encourage you to look into them even if you have a busy schedule already planned for next summer. It’s an amazing experience being able to connect with incredible people and help them along the path to success at Penn State. 

Genna Aldridge

Team M Mentor

The Summer After Freshman Year- Taking Summer Classes

During your freshman year it can be slightly overwhelming to think about what to do during the upcoming summer! Many students have internships, but if you don’t end up with an internship offer it’s easy to feel like the summer will be a “waste.” Fear not!! The answer lies below…

 

Taking a class or two over the summer is an awesome alternative to having an internship! It’s still a great talking point at the career fair the next fall and it will definitely help lighten your load for future semesters! Keep reading below to learn more about taking summer classes!

The Transfer Credit Tool

The Transfer Credit Tool is used if you decide you want to take classes through another university. Before you enroll for any summer classes you should talk to your adviser! First, your adviser is going to ask if you have already looked at the transfer credit tool, which can be found on LionPath. 

The transfer credit tool, as seen above, can work one of two ways. The first option is to “Search by College/University” which means you would enter the information for the college you desire to take classes at, the class you want to take, and the system outputs information for the equivalent class at that college and if Penn State accepts the credit. That’s why this tool, and communicating with your adviser, is super important! It would be horrible to take a class only to find out Penn State won’t accept it! The second option is to “Search by Penn State course” and then the system will show which colleges/universities offer an equivalent class with accepted credit. 

When I knew I wanted to take Physics 212 over the summer, I started with the “Search by College/University” option. Unfortunately, I am an out of state student, and my local community college did not offer an equivalent class. Then, I switched to the second option “Search by Penn State course” and instead looked for any other places which offered this class. I worked with my adviser to narrow down the options to online courses and voilà! We found the perfect match for my situation! 

Penn State Campuses

If you live in Pennsylvania, don’t forget to look into taking a summer class at your closest Penn State campus! 

There are 24 Penn State campuses scattered all throughout the state, so if you happen to live close to another campus, you should definitely mention this when you talk to your advisor as this might be the safest option to make sure your credit is accepted. Penn State University Park also offers summer classes! So if you can’t bear to leave Happy Valley for the summer, you can also research information about the classes offered here, the living options, and meal plans! 

Regardless of whether you find yourself staying at University Park, attending another Penn State campus, commuting to your local college, or taking classes online from the comfort of your house, enrolling in summer classes is a great way to make use of your free time during the summer! Trust me, your future self will thank you for it later.

Kara Miller

Team M Envoy

How to Fit a Million Things into Half of a 15’x12’ Room

I grew up as an only child and never had to share a bedroom, so I always had plenty of space to my store my things. I knew it was going to be difficult to split a tiny dorm room in college. My roommate and I were both overpackers. If we could do it, you can definitely too.

Yes, I brought wayyy too much stuff with me. I do suggest putting a lot of thought into what essentials you will need and the things you want to bring. Don’t wait to pack last minute. You will definitely want to pack with organization in mind beforehand. You won’t have too much time to move in if you were planning on reorganizing everything after you unpack during the morning of WEPO.

Something you can do ahead of time is go on Penn State’s website https://housing.psu.edu/housing-areas to view pictures and floor plans of what your room layout will look like. You can also call housing over the summer and ask if the provided bed will have built in adjustable risers or if you can loft the beds. Some dorms will, some won’t. I purchased extra tall bed risers (that you can find cheap on Amazon (7 inches)) and my roommate lofted her bed. This allowed so much extra storage space to be used underneath the beds! 

My mother and I made sure to make a Target shopping trip to find a few things to help organize my mass amounts of stuff. I liked having a 3 drawer storage bin that had wheels. I was able to keep it under the bed, and then easily pull it out when I needed it. It worked out nice to store food like cereal bars, crackers, and chips in these. I suggest placing the items you believe you will use the least often in the farthest corner/side of the bed. (make sure to read online carefully since the bed heights are different in each dorm so you do not want to buy too tall of drawers if you plan on putting them under your bed)

I suggest purchasing a desk organizer so you can keep your desk neat throughout the semester. It helps organize loose smaller things and papers. If you have a lot of clothes you like to hang, a double hanging closet rack might be your best friend. This allows another rack that you can hang from, and it simply hooks onto the provided rack in the room already.

Hope you can fit everything into your dorm rooms!

~Devyn Brielle Kirban

Mentor for Team L

How to Pack a Backpack

When it comes to living on campus, you learn that your backpack essentially houses your life for the next year. Although you may be living on campus as a freshman, your classes probably won’t be on one part of campus yet—you’ll be walking around all day. So, the best way to make sure you have everything you’ll need is to pack your backpack like a master!

The first thing I always make sure of is that I have a secure, but easily accessible spot in my backpack to store a small wallet (and the most important thing in your wallet is your Penn State id+ card). You’ll need it to enter dorms, pay for meals, and for most of your exams, so make sure it won’t fall out. You can also put an id holder on your phone if you prefer to carry it that way. You will need a place to put your key as well. Some people use a lanyard, others keep it on their wrist, you could keep it on your wallet or maybe you have as spot in your backpack that you always put it. Any way that you decide, choose a system so that you DO NOT LOSE IT. It is way too expensive to change those dorm room locks.

You’ll also need a space for your laptop or notebooks (whatever you decide to use to take notes in class) that isn’t at risk of bending or breaking if you drop your backpack next to your bed after a long day. It’s important that you keep your heaviest materials near your back so you don’t strain yourself on the way to class on that trek across campus. Another note for class materials: if your teachers require you to take textbooks to class, consider buying an e-textbook and bringing your laptop to class to access it when the need arises. This way, you won’t need to stop back and forth at your dorm to pick up and exchange your textbooks, and you guarantee that the heaviest “book” you’ll carry is a laptop (which isn’t too bad compared to some monster-sized textbooks). 

It’s also important to make sure that you have a secure but easily accessible spot for your cellphone in your backpack (usually what I do is keep my cellphone in the water bottle pocket on the outside, and store my water bottle inside my bag). The first year is the toughest because you’ll want to have your phone out constantly with google maps up hoping you don’t look too dorky for not knowing your way around campus yet (don’t worry, you’ll get it locked in by the end of your first semester), but once you get into that groove, you will probably struggle to find a place for it (because for some unknown reason, women’s pants aren’t allowed to have actual pockets??). Luckily, it’s temperate for most of the school year, so a light jacket with pockets is another viable option, but make sure you have that back-up space in your backpack for the warmer months. 

The last important thing to have enough space for in a backpack is a water bottle (as I kind of mentioned before). You may not think of it, but walking to class every weekday is a lot of exercise—especially as a freshman whose classes are all the way across campus. Staying hydrated is so important for you and can impact your mental and physical health (drinking a lot of water also helps you avoid that pesky freshman 15 everybody talks about). The style of water bottle depends entirely on your personal preferences (I like ice cold water, so I use a heavy metal Hydroflask), but make sure that you don’t ignore the fact that water bottles weigh a lot more than you’d think; so try to make a space for them relatively close to your back so your backpack isn’t weighing you down constantly. Try to aim for a water bottle that holds at least 24 oz of water (I, personally, find that 32 oz is the perfect amount) so you aren’t constantly stopping to refill, but it doesn’t weigh more than your entire backpack.

A few other small things to consider are writing utensils (make sure to stock up on #2 pencils for exams and scantrons), hand sanitizer, Tide to-go, chapstick, snacks/gum, and extra charging cords. You know what you like to keep in your backpack (I am a horribly messy eater, so Tide to-go and hand sani are a must), but the key to making sure everything fits but you don’t create a black hole is to compartmentalize your backpack. This means that similar items go together (e.g. headphones and chargers together, chapstick and gum together, hand sani and band-aids together, etc.). That way, you won’t have to think and you can just go for whatever you need. But, to keep the organization, it’s so worth those extra five seconds to put something back in its place, because eventually, you’ll have to turn your backpack upside down, shake everything out, and start from scratch. 

To finish off, I’ll leave you with a really important piece of advice that a friend gave to me when I first started out: for the first time, you will be on your own, for real. You are in charge of your life and if something happens, you are the one that will have to deal with it. So, make sure that everything you need to do is for yourself. This doesn’t mean be rude and selfish, but if you have to choose between helping a friend decorate their dorm or studying for a Physics exam, choose the exam—your time here is short, so make sure you do your best to make it your own!

Laura Brownstead

Team L Envoy

Handy to Have!

Fall semester means that… it’s time to move in! There are so many things to pack, and you probably have a good idea of what you would like or need to bring, so here is a list of a few items that are nice to have but may have slipped your mind!

Rain boots

Be sure to bring some rain boots! There are many rainy days at Penn State, and you may spend a lot of time walking from one class to another. Your sneakers can get soaked! So make sure you wear rain boots so you don’t feel uncomfortable sitting in class with wet shoes :) Bonus points if they are also insulated because it is cold for most of the year in Happy Valley. Your rain boots might have to sludge through wintry slush or snow as well.

Digital thermometer

You may find yourself feeling a bit sick sometimes, and it’s good to know how serious it is.

Portable stapler

I often found myself in classes where you could lose points for not stapling your papers before you hand them in, so I always make sure to keep a small stapler with me. It comes in handy when you just need to staple something just for yourself. 

Mini vacuum

You can certainly rent a vacuum from the commons, but they are rather large and a hassle to bring all the way from the commons to your dorm room. I always kept a mini vacuum in my room, and they were great for cleaning up hair and any crumbs that were on the floor.

Surge protector

It never hurts to not only protect your devices but also have more outlets. You’ll want to plug in your laptop, phone, and so much more. 

I hope this list helps a bit! I can’t wait to see you all at WEPO :)

Jenny Ngo

Team L Mentor