Senior
Major: Civil Engineering
Hometown: West Des Moines, IA
Extracurricular Activities: 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 WiSE Learning Community Peer Mentor, 2008 President of WiSE Student Organization

Why did you choose to come to Iowa State University?

I have lived in Iowa most of my life and grown up around the University. Both my parents went here, and I had a lot of high school events here. I went to Valley High School in West Des Moines so we would come up for speech and music events a lot. The campus was just so familiar. It felt like home. The campus is beautiful! I just love the feel of Ames. It is kind of small town, but has big town opportunities. It is also one of the best schools of engineering so it was a good choice.

What have you been involved with at Iowa State University?

Currently, I am the WiSE student organization president. I got involved in the organization through the first-year learning community. I love the people that are part of it, and I love meeting new people through that organization. We invite a lot of industry speakers to the meetings so they are some professional networking opportunities too.

I was a WiSE learning community peer mentor my sophomore year for a first-year learning community. My junior year I was a peer mentor for the second-year learning community and helped facilitate a seminar class for those students.

I am also in the Iowa State University Symphonic Band. This was my second year in the band. I didn't do it my freshman year because everyone told me that I couldn't do both engineering and band, but I really missed it my first year so I got involved as a sophomore. Now, it seems like everyone in band is majoring in a science or engineering field. The Symphonic Band has also been a great outlet from engineering. I get to go to class and just have fun!

What are your plans for the future?

I've been thinking a lot about graduate school. Iowa State has a great concurrent program. I don't know exactly what I want to do within civil engineering, but I love bridges and would love to design bridges. My goal would be to work with some type of structure like bridges or roads. I've also been doing research with a professor on soils and learning a lot about ground improvement. I guess I kind of want to do it all!