Leaving a Legacy

It's amazing how fast time flies by.  One minute,  I am a freshman, arriving on Purdue's campus for the first time and now, here I am, just about 5 weeks from graduation.  When did that happen?!

When the "Graduation" tab shows up on MyPurdue, you know it's official...

Over the past semester, it is been a roller-coaster of late engineering nights, spending quality time with friends, working hard on senior design, and crossing things off of my Purdue Bucket List.  Sixteen weeks in a semester may seem like a lot of time, but it just really doesn't last.  I was at Walmart today and now my mindset has become "how much do we need for the next month?"  Now that there is so little time left here, it's even more important to make the most of every opportunity.

Just last week, I went for a flight down at the Purdue Airport.  That's something that I've wanted to do since my very first visit to Purdue when I was still a senior in high school.  Even though the entire experience lasted about an hour, it felt absolutely incredible to take the controls and see Purdue and the surrounding area from an entirely new perspective.  I even logged my time in my new official Pilot's Logbook!  I've already found a flight school where I'll be working on my license in Louisiana next fall.  Here are a couple pictures:

Purdue Engineering Mall

 First time ever to sit in the left seat!

Awesome paint job on the Piper Warrior

Besides the bucket list items and doing things that can (should?) only really be done in college, this past semester has been about transitions, gearing up for the changes that are quickly approaching.  I admit that it is very difficult for me to start letting go of this place and all the incredible experiences and opportunities that it has offered to me.  Since I accepted my full-time position so early last fall, it really hasn't felt real.  Now that the majority of my friends have decided their plans after graduation, it's finally beginning to hit home.  As I've heard before and now I'm experiencing first-hand, Purdue engineers (and graduates of other majors) really go EVERYWHERE.  It's amazing how many different cities and types of jobs as well as other opportunities my cohorts are planning for after graduation.  I really do need to start making a list of cities and who will be living and working in those places, so I can be sure to make the rounds after we leave Purdue.

St. Patty's Day Celebrations in Chicago

The whole gang at Park City during Spring Break

 Roommates finally reunited

 Clayton Anderson Concert at Wabash

 Celebrating Nitesh's 22nd Birthday with the China Clan

 PMEA Reunion at the Cactus

ME Seniors!

One of my big projects this semester has been creating a blog for the ME Undergraduate Office to help streamline mass communication throughout the school.  This project has been about leaving a legacy behind, knowing that I have done something to help out future ME students.  Since last October, I've been working on this blog (the majority of the work happened this semester) and finally it's launched.  In just about a week, there are already over 3500 views.  I am overjoyed at how successful the blog has been thus far.  It makes me so happy when I walk in one of the ME computer labs and see people using it.  I wish that I had done this sooner so it would have been a part of my undergraduate ME experience, but it feels so good to know that future ME students will be able to benefit from here.  

Screenshot from the ME Blog

Another project this semester was to create a blog through my Women in Engineering Team.  Called "The Engineering Experience," this one is for helping prospective female engineering students to learn more about what life is like as a Purdue engineering student. Through the ME blog and this one, I've been doing lots of blogging this semester!

Screenshot from the WIEP Blog

There are only about 10 random things standing between me and graduation.  A couple homework assignments, essays, projects, one midterm and then two finals.  When I think back on all the countless hours spent in the depths of the ME building, who knew there was an end to that madness.  These last few weeks are going to be a struggle... senioritis - it's real.  It is the reason for the extra late nights spent procrastinating with friends and making wonderful memories, doing things that college kids should do.  It is the reason for wanting to leave a mark on Purdue.  And it is also the reason why I'm writing this blog post instead of working on my machine design assignment.

More later, look for updates on senior design, Purdue bucket list items, senior shenanigans and other random adventures sometime soon.