“There are tons of resources at Purdue aimed at helping you succeed, it’s up to you to take advantage of them.”
I’m willing to bet that if you have told anyone you want to study engineering you’ve probably heard “Woah, engineering is hard.” or “You must be really smart.” I have heard different variations of that statement countless times. It’s absolutely true, engineering is not easy. It’s also true that if you’re willing to put in the work, pursuing a degree in engineering is absolutely worth it!
I graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor’s of Chemical Engineering in May 2014. I began my career at Tate & Lyle as a Production Engineer where I was fortunate enough to be sent to Sweden several times to work as engineering technical support for startup of an oat processing plant. I currently work at Solvay as a Process Engineer making polymer resins for aerospace carbon fiber applications. When I was at Purdue I was president of the Society of Women Engineers and the Professional Practice Ambassadors (for Co-Op students, you can read my “Why you should consider Co-Op” blog here.) I accepted a great job offer out of school, and have had a successful engineering career so far. It seems like I have it all together, right? Well, my time at Purdue did not start out as you might think.
The ChemE Co-Op graduating class of 2014 in front of Forney Hall (I’m in the second row up, third from the right).
The very first exam I took at Purdue was in Calc 1, and I got a 48%. Saying this was a shock is an understatement. I had always been good at math and science in high school, but college was a much different experience.
Instead of letting a bad test grade knock me down, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I hired a tutor for math. I became a regular at the math help room, physics help room, and WIEP tutoring in Earhart hall. I found a great group of people to study with. I attended every class and turned in every assignment. I put in extra hours studying when some of my classmates didn’t need to. There are tons of resources at Purdue aimed at helping you succeed, it’s up to you to take advantage of them.
I was never a straight A student at Purdue, but I worked really hard to maintain my 3.0 gpa. Turns out, B’s and C’s also get degrees. Purdue will teach you more than just math, science, and engineering. You will also graduate with an unparalleled work ethic and ability to persevere that will serve you well in your career.
All of this is not to say that I didn’t have fun. I was active in several different clubs that I loved, participated in intramural sports, and did a Maymester to China the summer before my senior year. I worked hard during the week and spent my Saturdays completely free of school. There’s a balance that I think a lot of people don’t realize. There really is time to do everything, as long as you don’t waste all of it surfing the internet and procrastinating on homework. When I was president of SWE I easily spent 20 hours a week on SWE while still able to keep up with school. During that year I didn’t watch much TV, a pretty easy compromise if you ask me.
If you’re anything like me, engineering at Purdue isn’t going to be easy. However, I firmly believe that if you’re willing to put in the work you will succeed.
- Ashley Koeplin
Purdue ChE 2014
Twitter: @PurdueWIEP
Instagram: @PurdueWIEP
Email: purdue.welink@gmail.com
Blog: purduewiep.blogspot.com
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