Coding for a Cure - Matt Glick

Being a Captain for the World’s Largest Student Run Philanthropy has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I am currently the Lead THINK Developer for THON 2013 and that allows me to use my coding experience and leaderships skills to help fight for a cure for pediatric cancer.

I am a Computer Engineering major here at Penn State and have been involved with THON since my freshman year. When I first came to Penn State I had no idea what THON was, but before long I was going on canning trips, sending THONvelopes and asking for online don12ations. And then when January rolled around and my organization had to choose dancers (someone who doesn’t sit or sleep for 46 hours in a testament to the Four Diamonds Children) I was honored to be chosen. I saw my first THON while walking through the human tunnel and into the Bryce Jordan Center.

After my first THON I knew I had to get involved. I applied to be Technology Captain in the spring and held the position throughout my sophomore year. I was then chosen again last spring as the Lead THINK Develeper and have since been working to develop and maintain a website called THINK (THON’s Information Network).

THON has given me a chance to combine my programming skills, my leadership skills and my push to make the world around me a better place. I am an Engineer and I have changed the life of a child.

Standing 46 Hours in the BJC for THON - Jacki Guillemette

Most Penn State students can agree that the fall semester is dedicated to football season and the spring semester is dedicated to THON. More than 15,000 PSU students participate in the 46 hour dance marathon that raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund to help the battle against pediatric cancer. Students spend a large part of the school year raising money for the cause and preparing for the highly anticipated THON weekend which occurred February 15-18 for THON 2013.

This year I had the honor of dancing in THON 2013. Dancers are the people who spend the entire 46 hours of THON on their feet without sitting or sleeping as a symbol of standing up for and taking the pain away from the children suffering from cancer so that they can have a weekend of fun and childhood. It is an extremely challenging endeavor because it is very exhausting not sleeping for so long and about halfway through the weekend, your legs and feet ache a tremendous amount. Despite the exhaustion and pain however, being able to stand for such an amazing cause is so rewarding and seeing all of the children makes everything more than worth it. It is also made a lot easier by having friends and family visit constantly and having a moraler there all of the time to help take care of you is super helpful.

Although a large part of THON is fundraising, another large part of it is being there for the families who have been affected by pediatric cancer. The organization that I danced for (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) found out a few days before THON weekend started that we got a new THON family. It was fantastic news because we now had a Four Diamonds Family that was going to attend THON and meet us and wanted to stay in touch with us. My dance partner (Jess Menold, also an Engineering Ambassador) got to meet our THON child, David, and his family on Saturday and they are such strong, amazing people. We got to spend time dancing and talking and it was so wonderful to get to know them and have them there with us.

THON 2013 total

During the final 4 hours, some families get to tell their stories and explain what THON has meant for them. After everyone gets to sit down at 4pm on Sunday, the THON total is revealed. This is positively one of the most exhilarating moments you will ever experience if you helped fundraise for THON. It’s the moment you find out just how much money PSU students were able to raise for the families to cover costs of treatments and for research to help find a cure. When the numbers are brought up and you see the number was higher than the year before, you can’t help but scream, cry, and jump with joy, no matter how much your feet hurt. This year was a record-breaking total of $12,374,034.46 which is a remarkable amount of money and a perfect ending to my last THON as a Penn State student.

What Do Engineers Do? - Sarah Krishner (Sophomore, Bioengineering)

Pintrest.  Just saying the word makes you think of crafts, clothes, recipes and animals exploding all over your computer screen.  But have you ever taken the time to look at your Pin Board and think about the design, or consider changing certain aspects to make it more user-friendly?  Tracy Chou has, and she is one of the many people behind the new verb “pinning.”

You know how there was a big deal about that thing landing on Mars a few weeks ago?  Well that “thing” is the Mars Curiosity Rover, and it’s right now being used to analyze whether or not the planet could support life. Brian Schratz and Ray Baker are a part of the team which made sure it was actually able to land.

A man was in a motorcycle crash leaving him completely paralyzed.  That is, until seven years later when he used his mind to control a robotic arm and touched the hand of his girlfriend for the first time since the crash.  This was the result of many years of research led by Dr. Michael Boninger.

What could all of these people named possibly have in common?  They are making a difference obviously, but something that may be surprising is they are all engineers.  A common misconception is that engineers sit at desks and look at numbers all day.  FALSE.  Engineers are traveling the world, founding companies, becoming doctors or lawyers, you name it.  That is what is so perfect about engineering: you can do whatever you want with it!  Save the world, create iPhone Apps, work for your favorite food company, literally whatever you want.  Whether it’s defeating diseases, taking us to other planets, or helping share our interests, engineers impact every part of our lives and are solving the world’s problems every day.   

Living Options (Kathleen Prilutski - Sophomore, Mechanical Engineering)

After I accepted my offer to Penn State, I started looking at the areas that freshmen typically live. As a wannabe engineer, I knew that I wanted to have a place that was about studying but I still wanted to have fun. I was in no way living in a completely boring place where people just studied all day. I had to avoid any boring dorms AT ALL COSTS. By looking online at Penn State’s dorms, I found that there were special living options for engineering freshmen in East, Pollock, and West Dorms.

Like Goldilocks, I “tried out” all the different living options in my head. 

In East, I could live in the Freshman Year in Science and Engineering (FISE) House and get the entire “freshman experience” and still live on a floor designated for science majors.

 

In Pollock, I could live in the EASI (Engineering Applied Science and Interest) House, a.k.a.  a cool place where people who like math and science live.

In West, I looked at the Engineering House. I could live with people of all engineering majors of all years. I was interested so I clicked more links to find out more.  There are social activities and three study lounges. Personally, I was completely sold on the social and study aspects of E-House.

I went on to live in E-House for two years! Looking back, E-House gave me some of the greatest times that I’ve ever had. From studying with some feisty engineers when I needed help to getting pushed really fast in wheeled chairs in E-House’s long hallways my friends, E-House was a fantastic place for me as I got to study when I needed to and got to go have tons of fun in my free time.

The ah-HA Moment (Matt DiNuzzo, Sophomore - Civil Engineering)

“So what do you want to be when you grow up?”

This innocent question has been thrown at me countless times growing up.  Ranging from the time in kindergarten when the grown ups flaunted their fancy uniforms and suits, all the way to the stressful junior year of high school applying to college programs. Even today I get this question asked to me by employers at career fairs (Only now staring blankly and saying “….umm” isn’t acceptable). So in a world with countless opportunities how do you discover what to do with your career and goals?

A simple way is to sit back and see what you naturally gravitate to.

As I was applying to different colleges and looking at different career paths, all of the information presented to me seemed bland and not relatable, almost as if it wasn’t real. Just another person spitting facts and numbers at me about this career or that field of study, and I really couldn’t picture myself in any of the situations.

I just knew that I was a kid that liked to analyze the world and wonder about how it works… and also watch Mythbusters in my free time.

I just loved watching Adam, Jamie, and the rest apply science to some outrageous myths that we have all heard of, and I began to think about these things when I wasn’t watching.  This ultimately sparked my interest in the engineering field, which is why I am currently majoring in civil engineering.

So when you find yourself bored on a rainy Saturday morning, take notice of what you find yourself thinking about, it could just be the answer to that ultimate question.

Is It Crazy to Take 28 Credits In A Semester? Not Really (Mingyang Zhou, Sophomore - Electrical Engineering and Engineering Science)

When I told my friends that I am going to take 26 credits for this semester, all of them just open their mouth widely and starred at me. “What? Is that even legal?” Obviously, they were shocked, because the full-time students in Penn State are only required to take 12 credits for a semester and the top limit to a regular registration is 19 credits. However, it is not that bad.

The secret to take 26 credits is just time management and some good habits.

In my time management system, there are 5 very important strategies that should be kept in mind:

1      Instead of focusing on how much work you have, focus more on how to solve every single one of them. It is hard to believe that we can run 10000m in one time, but it seems much easier to run ten 1000m one by one.

2      Doing things as early as possible and don’t push the work to the last second.

Since you will never know how much time you need to spend on each task and you don’t know if there is anything out of expectation can just jump into your task plan, it is always good to do things in advance.

3      Try to finish one task in one time. Don’t stop during the work, unless there is a big emergency. Every time you are interrupted by other things, it takes you some time to put your concentration on the work again.

4      Catch every single time that you can make use of instead of just wasting them. When you are standing in a long line and wait for a order, instead of playing your phone, why not just pull out your Zen-presentation and have a read?

5      Don’t change your plan easily. Try to finish the goals that you have set up for yourself, which will train you to be more efficient and give your more confidence.

Talk to Save the World - Mike Coia (Junior, Mechanical Engineering)

Give the best, most inspirational talk of your life in 18 minutes or less.  That’s the challenge given by TED to the speakers invited to go onstage.  People like Bill Gates, Al Gore, and other great thinkers and doers have gone on stage and told their story. Any topic you can think of has been talked about, from new batteries to playing the piano.  The message is always the same: A idea worth sharing.

Just because you weren’t invited doesn’t mean you can be a part of this, however; TED puts all of their talks online for anyone to watch.  Now, watching videos online is great, but what if you could actually attend one of these awesome conferences?

 

At Penn State, you can be a part of this amazing experience.  TEDxPSU is just one of the many things that set Penn State apart, and it is definitely one of my favorite.  It started back in the fall of 2010 and has become something I look forward to every year.  These events are free, all you need to do is go to TEDxPSU.com and register to attend, which is definitely worth it.  Just hearing to the speakers talk in such an intimate setting is something that sends chills down my spine, and I can’t wait for March 17^th!