For this week, I have decided to take a break from the interviews and share my own journey in STEM. A little about me: I grew up north of Pittsburgh and played lacrosse all throughout high school. I am very interested in the environment, and some of my hobbies include crocheting, running, and rock climbing!

I attended a small elementary school where there were about 30 kids in my grade, making us a close-knit group. The first time I remember being interested in science was when we grew plants in first grade. I loved learning about the life cycle of the plant, and from then on, science has always been one of my favorite subjects. I enjoyed all of the hands-on projects we got to do. Then in fifth grade, I went to a new school, but science was still my favorite subject. Our teacher encouraged us to participate in the science fair, and since we had already been working on projects, he said that if we submitted them to the science fair, we could get a bonus. So, I entered and made a calculator powered by a lemon, and I ended up getting 2nd place!

I was very fortunate to always have good science teachers throughout my academic career, which is why I stayed so interested in science. At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but sometimes, I thought I would be a teacher. It wasn’t until 7th grade when my science teacher told my class about “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” It was a field trip to an engineering firm where we completed countless, fun engineering challenges with a bunch of other girls. We also talked to real female engineers, and I just remember thinking that they were so cool.

From then on, I always knew I would be an engineer when I grew up. Therefore, throughout the rest of high school, I pushed myself to do my best in science and math. Fortunately, I had a good support system behind me every step of the way, including my parents, my cousin (who is also an engineer), my friends, and my teachers. Once I got to 11th grade, I started to consider more and more what kind of engineer I wanted to be. I took an anatomy and physiology class, and that convinced me that I wanted to be a biomedical engineer. I loved learning about the body and how it worked, and I thought it would be really cool to work in that area. However, at the same time, I was very involved with environmental service, and as I was in the process of applying to college, I realized that I had a lot more passion for the environment than for anything else. Therefore, with the support of my family, I applied to Penn State for environmental engineering, and here I am now! In my next blog, I will discuss my experiences during my first year at Penn State!