Monday, October 21, 2013

Scholarship Brunch

Last weekend I was invited to a brunch for a scholarship that I won. It was held at the University Club, and the food was wonderful! I had apricot juice to drink, and the fancy buffet had all types of breakfast and lunch foods, including caviar! It was really nice getting to know the donor's nephew and the other scholarship winners. I really appreciated that the donor's nephew flew all the way from California just to attend this event and meet the recipients of the award. About twenty people won my specific scholarship, but only five of them came to the brunch. I think that the ones who did not attend really missed out on a great experience and some fabulous food! Someone was there from the College of Engineering to take pictures, so if I come across one, I will be sure to share it.

So how did I win this scholarship? Scholarship applications for the College of Engineering become available in November and are due at the end of February. All you have to do is fill out a one-page application and staple your resume to it. My favorite part was that there was no essay! I was notified in the summer that I won the scholarship, and then I wrote a thank you letter to the donor. That was some easy money! Incoming freshmen are automatically considered for engineering scholarships, so they do not even need to fill out a scholarship application. I will definitely fill out another application for next year and hopefully earn more scholarship money!

I also just found my testimonial from my Study Abroad trip on the MSU website, and the link is below. I had to write a little blurb about my experience for one of the scholarships I won through the Office of Study Abroad. You can also read what other study abroad participants wrote about their experiences if that interests you.

http://studyabroad.isp.msu.edu/studentstories/details.htm?id=1431



Monday, October 7, 2013

Career Gallery

Now that Pre-gallery, Career Gallery, and interviews are over, I can breathe a sigh of relief! I have not been contacted by any companies, but I did get one interview for a co-op after attending Career Gallery. It took place in the Spartan Stadium on Thursday, so I had a view of the football field while I was being interviewed. I was hoping to get more interviews, but there is still Engineers Week in February to get more interviews and hopefully a job!

I was way more prepared this year than I was last year. After attending the career events last year, I knew what to expect at each of the events this year. Now I have an interview to add to my own personal experiences. Going to SWE and AIChE meetings last year and this year really helped me learn about some companies and what they were looking for in an employee. I asked better questions, but I could probably improve the way I relate my experience to the job opening.

Overall, I had a positive experience because I was more comfortable talking with representatives and I got a ton of free stuff! Pictured below is my haul of free stuff: