Honors College junior Lauren Lippman came to Oregon State University from her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona for a change of scenery — and for the multitude of resources and opportunities to expand and explore her interests.
Of all the colleges she considered attending, OSU and the Honors College stood out for their commitment to student support. “I’ve never seen a college that so badly wanted you to succeed,” says Lauren.
Lauren has made an effort to become a part of that student success support system. As a College of Engineering ambassador, Lauren, a chemical engineering major, helps high school students decide where they want to go to college and what they might want their majors to be. She guides daily tours, as well as helping out with career fairs and representing her college during Beaver Open House days.
“The best part of it is getting to talk to new students,” she says. “I really enjoyed doing that – getting to tell people why I came to OSU and what was really helpful.”
She also is there when students arrive at Oregon State. As a new student, Lauren benefited from the Honors College Peer Mentoring Program, and she has since been a peer mentor herself.
“My mentor was fantastic,” she says. “She got me in touch with a bunch of resources and told me what to get involved in and what would be fun.”
Now on the other side of the relationship, Lauren has found it rewarding to support students new to the university and the Honors College. “Passing down so much knowledge is amazing,” she says.
Lauren also runs the mentoring program for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), called SWEsters. As a SWEster mentor, she organizes club trips to the Farmer’s Market, rafting trips with the Adventure Leadership Institute (ALI) and a Bob Ross Painting Night.
Lauren’s involvement extends to her peers, as well. She is on the Engineering Student Council, a committee that runs all the College of Engineering clubs and helps manage their funds. She’s very proud of the council’s work over the past few years to foster the creation of new clubs. Before she started college, Lauren says, there were only a few engineering clubs, with limited access to resources. Now there are over fifty engineering clubs and more than enough money to fund them all.
“It means a lot to me because participating in extracurriculars has impacted my experience so positively,” she says.
In fact, Lauren recommends new students join every extracurricular they can and participate in all of the opportunities that come their way, even if they don’t think they have the necessary experience.
“If someone asks you to get pie at midnight, say yes,” she says. “Go to Honors College Community Coffees, even if you go alone – you’ll meet an awesome professor you wouldn’t otherwise have a class with. It’s not about experience; it’s about wanting to do it.”
Trying new things has not only made Lauren’s college career fun and enjoyable, it’s an attitude that has allowed her to meet people who have enhanced her educational experience. That’s why she tries her hardest to help those around her also have a fun, successful four years at Oregon State.
“My college experience would not be the same without the entire community being like, ‘we want you to succeed.’”
After the switch to remote learning in spring term 2020, we reached back out to Lauren to see how things are going. She has remained in Corvallis, Oregon.
This term, Lauren has stayed in Corvallis with her five roommates. She has tried to stick to a normal school-day schedule when she can in order to prevent assignments from piling up and leave time for relaxing and talking with friends and family.
“I’m just taking everything day by day when it comes to remote learning and quarantine,” she says. “I am learning to be more lenient with everyone, from myself to professors to roommates.”
Lauren and her roommates spend their free time doing puzzles, painting, dancing and watching Netflix.
By Lucas Yao: Student Writer, Honors College
CATEGORIES: All Stories HC Student Spotlights Uncategorized