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Why did you choose engineering at CU �鶹ӰԺ?

Between my passion for creative problem solving and wanting to branch out from my hometown of San Antonio, TX; I was drawn to CU. I knew it had an impressive engineering program and with CU being such a large campus, there were TONS of opportunities for me to get involved, which was important to me.

What does the #iLookLikeAnEngineer hashtag mean to you?

#iLookLikeAnEngineer is important to me because I often see myself as a non-traditional engineer. Not only am I a woman in engineering, but my major is also educating me on a less well-known area; creative, new-age technologies. #iLookLikeAnEngineer because there’s no cookie cutter mold to be an engineer. I think we are each our own individual cookie cutter and define what engineering looks like to us.

Do you have any career, research or creative goals?

After this semester, I will be going to work at Baker Hughes, a GE Company, in their ASPIRE Leadership Digital Technology Team. It is an accelerated leadership program that offers rotations that will allow me to test out the waters on several technology teams while developing as a leader. As for my creative goals, I would like to continue doing passion projects post-graduation that I plan to update on my blog:

What are three things that make you unique?

1. I’ve been involved in a lot of male-dominated activities from engineering to drumline, and want to help shatter the glass ceiling in all aspects of life.
2. I once got to work with Google and St. Jude Children’s Hospital in a Creative Skills for Innovation Lab at the Google Headquarters with the goal of getting Millennials and Gen Z more involved with St. Jude. It was a unique experience that opened up my eyes to the bigger picture of why we are problem solving as engineers.
3. I love puns and integrate them into my life as much as possible.

Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?

“You have no idea how high I can fly” –Michael Scott, The Office

What are your hobbies?

In college, I’ve been involved in a few clubs and organizations including Society of Women Engineers, where I currently serve as the Executive Secretary; the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, where I served as the Cymbal Section Leader; Colorado Space Grant Consortium, where I currently serve as the project manager of the Wearables team; and Delta Delta Delta. My hobbies include all the classic Colorado outdoorsy activities, playing my ukulele, and making puns.

What do you enjoy most about engineering?

One of the things I have found most enjoyable about engineering is finding people like me in the STEM community at CU. In high school, I didn’t have nearly as many friends interested in STEM and often didn’t relate to what they were interested in. After having lived in the Brackett engineering quad dorm, getting involved with SWE, joining the ATLAS (specifically BTU) community, Space Grant, and just building connections in general; I have loved being surrounded by people who are going through the same experiences that I am, in which we all support each other each step of the journey.

What is your favorite engineering experience?

My favorite engineering experience was probably when I started to get more involved with Society of Women Engineers. I started out as a minimally-involved active member, which has grown to receiving the “Most Involved Member” award my sophomore year, to helping construct and arrange Outreach Events my junior year, and now I am the section Secretary. It’s a lot of work, but I always feel as though I’m just giving back for all that SWE has given me: professional development, outreach events with smiling kiddos, a job after college, and an amazing group of friends.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

My advice for prospective students would be that it’s alright to switch your “plan”. Your passions can change when you get to college, so it’s alright to change things like your major. I started off as an Aerospace Major and realized my passions really aligned more with what TAM offers. It’s okay to take longer than 4 years if needed. It’s okay is take time off if you need to. It’s okay to not do what everyone thinks the “standard college experience” is. No one person has the same college experience as the other, so always do what’s best for you and what you’re passionate about and everything will work out!

Lauren Hampton, Class of 2019, Technology, Arts & Media