But What Exactly Does Business Attire Mean?!?

As so many of you have already heard and will continue to hear, welcome to the Penn State family and to the WEPO family!!  I can hardly believe that three years ago I was in your shoes and excited yet nervous to start college.  But before you even have a day of college classes, you are going to a career networking dinner?  Well that seems… odd.

What is so cool with this networking dinner is that you get a chance to meet professors, staff, and company representatives looking to hire Penn State women engineers – also known as, YOU!!  So now you are thinking, “Okay.  So I’m attending this dinner and talking to people who will be my professors and who want to hire me.  I’m supposed to be dressed in business attire.  Now what does THAT mean?”

When you are meeting people who want to impress so that they hire you, you want to look your best but you also want to look professional.  The orientation packet you got has some generic advice but here some additional pieces of advice.

Pants/Skirt: This is probably the easiest one to figure out.  Business pants and skirts are pretty much exactly what you think of.  The one rule to be careful of is in regards to skirts; skirts should be to your knees.

Shirt: This is probably the one of the harder pieces of the business attire puzzle but it doesn’t have to be.  Think conservative and comfortable.  A nice shirt that is a step up from a polo but not overdone and revealing would be perfect for this.  Dress shirts are, again, pretty much what you are thinking – go with your instincts.

Shoes: Shoes present another difficult challenge in business attire.  You want your shoes to be comfortable – you could be standing a while.  And even if you are professional 5-inch heel walker, I can guarantee you will be far happier in either flats or low heels.  As it says in the packet, go for something with a closed toe and not sneakers, Tevas, or hiking boots.

Other notes: You may want to consider some light make-up for the career dinner.  As far a jewelry goes, some jewelry is fine but again, keep it conservative – a nice neckalace, bracelet or watch, and/or simple earrings are all suitable for a career setting.  Also if you choose to wear perfume, keep it very light – it can be overbearing and you never know if someone you are talking to may be alergic.

Optional details: A suit (jacket/pants or jacket/skirt) is something nice to have but not entirely necessary for the Career Dinner.  You may want to consider having one for the future but don’t feel like you need to go out right now to buy one.

That should be just about everything you need to know.  If you have any questions at all about what to expect or what would be good to wear, don’t hesitate to reach out to me, your mentor, your rover, or anyone on the WEPO ’12 Leadership Team.  We are here to help you and we are excited to see you looking your best and working it at the Career Dinner.

For The Glory! See you all in August!! J

Emily is a senior in Aerospace Engineering. This summer she is working for the Federal Government. Emily is a mentor for WEPO 2012

Penn State Traditions

Welcome to Penn State!!! One of the really cool things about Penn State is all of the traditions and myths – how the school got its colors (we weren’t originally blue and white), yelling “WE ARE!” at the tour groups to hope they yell back “Penn State,” participating in THON, and of course – football!! Many quickly figure out the obvious traditions – the drum major’s flip, the floating LIONS in the Blue Band, when to sing which chants/songs, and whiteout! However, Paternoville often escapes the radar of many Penn State fans.



Paternoville as seen from above at

Gate A outside Beaver Stadium



Paternoville is a group of students dedicated to getting the best seats in the house on game day and are willing to camp out to get them. That’s right – camping. In tents. Rain or shine (or snow). There has to be one person from your group at your tent at all times 24/7 until game day. We usually camp for three nights except for the big games, that’s a five night camp out.





I’ve camped in Paternoville now four different times, twice each of my two years. Freshman year I camped out for Syracuse (and ended up on TV) and Iowa (we won’t discuss the rainy and cold game where we lost to a state that doesn’t really exist). My sophomore year I camped out for Kent State (we got front row at the 30 yard line) and Northwestern (Joe Pa’s 400^th win)! But despite the special things that are easily remembered from each game, there was a lot more to it than sitting in the front rows – the actual camping was an amazing experience.



Our Paternoville group for the 2010 Northwestern game

 when Joe Paterno got his 400^th win!



I made so many friends while camping out in Paternoville. We were all there to support our football team and to get great seats for game day. Being at the tent a lot during the day and at night, there is a lot of time to get to know the others. Whether we were throwing a football around to pass time, working on homework in our tents, saving our tents from getting rain inside, sleeping in thermal sleeping bags and boots to stay warm, creating a slip n’ slide, or singing the fight songs to the trash-can-drumline, it is impossible to not meet people and to have a great time!

This year I will be camping out again with anyone who wants to join me. I will definitely be doing the week-long camp out for the Alabama game. If you want to join in on this tradition, all you need is a sleeping bag and a tent (or know someone who has a tent)! This is an amazing experience that every Penn Stater should check off of their list of things to do before they graduate! WE ARE… PENN STATE!

Emily Wolf is a junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering. She has interned for the government.  Emily will serve as a Mentor in WEPO 2011 and is also the Engineering Orientation Network’s Vice President. In addition, Emily has been active in Engineering House and the Society of Women Engineers. .