Monday
I got up early to complete tasks for my research job with the coastal research group at the Davidson Laboratory on campus. The coastal group looks for storms that cause drastic erosion and tracks how beaches change before and after storms. Even though storms may not be that bad with wind or rain, they can be really destructive in terms of erosion and wave action on the beach. We are currently working on a paper that focuses on a winter storm that happened two years ago. We also follow the beaches’ long-term recovery. At noon, I had lunch with Dr. Connie Mariano, who spoke today at Stevens as part of the Provost’s Women in Leadership Lecture Series. She answered a lot of our questions about being a woman in a male-dominated industry, her journey through the Navy, and why she chose the career path she did. Her talk later that afternoon was incredibly insightful.
Tuesday
I started today by doing some last-minute cramming for an exam in my Structures class. I had studied the day before as well, but that last-minute bit always helps. When I study for Structures, I try to get a good sample of all of the possible problems. No matter how many possibilities I try, Professor Billah is always more creative and always manages to make his students think. The exam ended up being pretty long, but I felt confident at most parts. I am a civil engineering student and this is one of my major classes, so I put extra pressure on myself to do well. I signed myself up for a peer tutor with the academic support center to help with any homework or studying.
Thursday
This morning I got an early start because I was volunteering. Every year, Professor Fontane hosts “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” at a grade school in Jersey City. We spoke to girls from third grade to eighth grade about what engineering is, how we got into it, and how it can be a career option for them. We also showed them some small demonstrations using small toys that demonstrated engineering concepts. I really enjoyed seeing how excited they were about the possibility that they could create anything they could imagine as a job. I returned to school and immediately went back to class. Usually, Thursdays are my busiest class days, but today was an exception. One of the classes I most look forward to during the week is my 100-minute lecture for my Literature class. I love to read, but that’s hard to do for fun sometimes when you’re trying to get your BE. To fulfill my humanities requirement, I always take a literature class so that I can continue to read on a regular basis. I find it enjoyabe, and it greatly improves my writing skills. Another enjoyable aspect of this class is how interactive it is. It’s fun to debate the literature or talk about what we might do in a similar situation. Once class was over, I attended Gear and Triangle’s Duck Days event, Cheese and Quackers. I am a member of the Gear and Triangle leadership honor society, and this week, we were hosting Duck Days. Every day this week, we held a different event for the student body to boost school spirit. I had a lot of fun at Cheese and Quackers because both students and faculty attend and it’s a great way to catch up with everyone mid-week. Plus, free cheese.
Sunday
I volunteered this morning for Gear and Triangle inductions. We had just had our voting meeting and it was time to induct the new members. My role was to help them study before the initiation ritual. Afterwards, we all had lunch together. The rest of the afternoon, I worked on homework for the upcoming week. I have another two tests this week and I wanted to get a head start on assignments so that I could spend time studying. At night, the SGA had a senate meeting. We meet every Sunday during the semester. Committee heads and cabinet members give reports and the senate continues with old and new business. This week, we discussed the constitutions of various clubs on campus and changes to the dining hall offerings.
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