What was your involvement in the engineering community?

I was on the Concrete Canoe team, ASCE and SWE. I think these are fun organizations to be involved in. You meet people you may know throughout your career. The skills are helpful if your program has a Senior Design class and these may be great experiences to lean on during job application time, especially if you don't have any internship experience.

My honest answer is 'no'. However, "Do I regret it?" YES! I regret it in many ways; giving back to the community, learning and sharing with my fellow female engineers, and making lifelong friendships along the way. I think the best way to fit it in is to make it as 'part of' and 'priority' of what you do.

This is a great question since having a strong support group is extremely important while pursuing an engineering degree. I actually lived in an Engineering RAP (Resident Academic Program) during my 1st year of college. Only engineering students lived on 2 floors of the dorm. This was very helpful since everyone had the same schedule and workload. Also, we were in a lot of similar classes which made it easy to get help on homework or study for exams. Some of my closest friends I had through college I met through the RAP. I always had a good group of friends to do projects or homework together. It is not as easy as you think to make friends in classes since most of the time is a lecture.

I also joined the Society of Women Engineers early on in my freshman year. This was a great opportunity to hear from other women who were going through the same struggles as I was. It helped broaden my network (the free pizza at meetings didn't hurt!). We also held programs to help get middle school and high school students interested in engineering so there were opportunities to give back to the community. I actually was on the board as the co-director of community service my senior year which gave me a boost on my resume when applying to jobs. Leadership positions in these clubs help teach you a lot of additional soft skills you do not learn in classes.

I had the unique opportunity to restart Pi Tau Sigma (the mechanical engineering honor society) on campus and became the president of the club my senior year. I was also involved in ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) which was an opportunity to learn more about mechanical engineering in addition to classes.

You need to be able to balance your coursework first but a lot of the clubs and societies don't take that much time. I would suggest attending a few meetings of the clubs you are interested in to learn more and you can always pick and choose which to attend if your schedule becomes overloaded. While these are not required, it definitely helps when applying to jobs to show you put some time and effort into activities beyond what the coursework requires.

When I was pursuing my engineering degree, I was involved in a variety of campus activities, both engineering related and non-engineering related. I believe it is important to both be involved and be well-rounded. Any groups will provide you opportunities to develop leadership skills, which is important for being a successful engineer. You have four years, so being a good member of any group is a great place to start. As you get to know the organizations, then you can figure out what areas you would like to get more involved and take on responsibility.

There are student competitions as well as student chapters of professional organizations. I expect you will also find the engineering college itself will have community outreach and leadership groups. Try different groups and activities, and have fun with it. Look outside the engineering college and see what interests you - there are so many clubs on most campuses. Have fun and try new things!

Like I tell ANYONE interested in engineering or other professional careers, DEFINITELY get involved with the professional organizations at the student-level to learn to network, learn of opportunities, gain insight into careers, apply for scholarships relative to your degree, and you will also make lifelong friends with similar class loads and interests!

As for how that fits into your educational schedule, it just does! Most meetings and events are held at times that most students can manage. Time commitment is reasonable since everyone is a student (the professionals who participate with some of the events are very aware of the time commitment school requires so no worries there). Many colleges will allow for some activities to be counted as class events, so sometimes that works out well, too! I would definitely make time for these organizations.

While in college, I was actively involved with SWE, SHIPE, a community 3-day event managing logistics, and a STEM robotics program for middle school children. My first job out of college was very much interested in my extracurricular activities and the STEM robotics program really caught their eye, as did the community 3-day event. Definitely make time to participate and join, there is plenty of benefit to be gained!

In high school, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up but I knew it would be something STEM-related! My freshman and sophomore years, I wasn't involved in any STEM activities. We actually didn't have those opportunities at my school. Instead, I got involved in things like Speech and Debate, Academic League (some schools call it Quiz Bowl..."team Jeopardy"), Academic Decathlon, community service, and sports. As I started thinking about going to college for engineering, I decided to start a FIRST Robotics team at my school my Junior year. Since my team was just in our first two years, it would be a stretch to say we were doing "high-level" engineering. We were just trying to throw something together to compete with! If you are in high school and don't feel like you are doing much "engineering" yet, that's okay! That is what college and beyond is for!

In college, I majored in Biomedical Engineering. I would recommend getting involved in a few on-campus activities your freshman year but don't stress about overloading yourself. This helps you make friends and really feel like you belong to your college. Think of it more so as pursuing your passions and interests (and if you don't like it, you can always stop going! You get to make your own decisions in college!). If those interests are only to join engineering competition teams, that's great! But if those interests are dance, or play music, or participate in athletics, do that as well! I was involved in engineering activities like SWE, Biomedical Engineering Society, Engineering Peer Advising, Engineering Tour Guide, and undergraduate research which I was able to balance with challenging coursework. But! I also was an avid Irish dancer and continued to attend a dance school near my college and participated in an Irish Dancing club on campus. I also was a Resident Advisor for freshmen which allowed me to meet so many students every year. Time management is always a big learning curve for college freshmen but once you get into your groove, you'll be surprised how much time you have. Many clubs also have meetings in the evening or on weekends so you don't have to worry about them clashing with your classes.

Now, as a professional engineer, I think all of these activities did help me be a successful engineer, but maybe not in the ways you might think. The activities I involved myself in in college helped me more on the non-technical side. I learned how to be a leader and a follower, I honed in on my communication skills, I was creative, I learned to strive to make things better, and most importantly, I learned to be curious! Whatever you decide to get involved in, do it because you enjoy it, not because you think you must do it!

I didn't participate in these types of organization until I was in graduate school and as a professional.  I played sports, which for me served some of the same purposes in terms of community and support.  But once I got to graduate school I realized that a lot of young girls didn't have the support I did growing up and I actually started an organization to support middle school girls!  Then when I graduated and started working I joined organizations like SWE and BMES and coaching FIRST and VEX robotics teams.  So at different times in your life you will find different communities that fit your needs and schedule!