Sophomore
Major: Chemical Engineering and Spanish
Hometown: Muscatine, IA
Extracurricular Activities: Marching Band, Engineering Leadership Program and WiSE Peer Mentor

Why did you decide to double major in engineering and Spanish?

 It is such a global economy now. Companies are multi-national; so knowing a second language seems like a good idea. Spanish is spoken in many countries so it (or Chinese) seemed like a good fit. Plus in my hometown there is a large Hispanic population, so Spanish seemed like a natural.

 What activities have you been involved with at Iowa State University?

 I've been in three main areas: Band (both marching and pep bands), Women in Science and Engineering, and the Engineering Leadership Program. The three have all impacted me in different ways. Band is great because it a great stress reliever and break from my technical classes. Plus I love sports, so by being in the marching and pep bands, I get to be a part of the game and play my trumpet! Since I was a member of the WISE learning community and lived on a WISE floor, most of my friends that I hang out with now are part of WISE. There is always someone to study with or just hang out and talk with on the floor. Plus this coming year, I will get to be a peer mentor for WISE. Through ELP, I have developed a lot of leadership skills, meet with business executives, and am getting to put the leadership skills to practice in a service learning project.

What is your advice to incoming students?

 Get involved as soon as you can. By joining activities or groups, you will make friends and feel like you belong. Also, learn how to study. Even though everyone told me that studying in college was different than high school, I just blew them off. Well, they were right! It isn't that it is necessarily a lot harder, but everything is covered much faster. In calculus, we just went so quickly from one concept to the next. You really have to stay on top of things, or soon you could be behind and lost.

What are your plans after graduation?

I am really interested in either the medical/pharmaceutical or renewable energy research areas of chemical engineering. These are both areas that can have a positive impact on the world. It would be great to use my Spanish skills by going to a low-income area in Mexico and making an impact on people's lives.