Why did you choose engineering at CU 麻豆影院?
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鈥檚 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?
- I鈥檝e 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.
- I once got to work with Google and St. Jude Children鈥檚 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.
- I love puns and integrate them into my life as much as possible.
Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?
鈥淵ou have no idea how high I can fly鈥� 鈥揗ichael Scott, The Office
What are your hobbies?
In college, I鈥檝e 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鈥檛 have nearly as many friends interested in STEM and often didn鈥檛 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 鈥淢ost Involved Member鈥� award my sophomore year, to helping construct and arrange Outreach Events my junior year, and now I am the section Secretary. It鈥檚 a lot of work, but I always feel as though I鈥檓 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鈥檚 alright to switch your 鈥減lan鈥�. Your passions can change when you get to college, so it鈥檚 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鈥檚 okay to take longer than 4 years if needed. It鈥檚 okay is take time off if you need to. It鈥檚 okay to not do what everyone thinks the 鈥渟tandard college experience鈥� is. No one person has the same college experience as the other, so always do what鈥檚 best for you and what you鈥檙e passionate about and everything will work out!
Lauren Hampton, Class of 2019, Technology, Arts & Media