Name: Mimi Overbaugh (Spirit Lead)

 

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

 

High School: North Allegheny

 

Activities Outside of WEPO: Outside of WEPO, I am involved in a few different organizations! I have been really involved with THON since my freshman year. As a freshman, I was on a Rules and Regulations Committee. My sophomore year, I was a Merchandise Captain, and this past year I was a Family Relations Captain!! I also am a member of Utree, which is Undergraduate Teaching and Research Experiences in Engineering. In Utree, we teach both undergraduate and graduate students about effective communication through presentations and writing.

 

Internship/Co-Op Experience: I had the really cool opportunity to get an internship after my Senior year of high school at Ritter Technology, LLC which is a small hydraulics company in the Pittsburgh area. I went back to Ritter Technology the summer after my freshman year. Then, after my sophomore year (last summer), I worked at Phillips 66 at the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey. I was a Maintenance and Reliability Intern and was able to get some hands on work in the refinery which was awesome!! This summer, I will be staying in the oil and gas industry and working for Williams in Pittsburgh.

 

Why did you choose to come to Penn State? I come from a very big Penn State family, so it really wasn't a surprise that I ended up here! I am the youngest of four kids, and all 3 of my siblings came to Penn State, so I often visited them for weekends or football games. Also, four of my cousins went to Penn State, along with my dad and uncle. Penn State was actually the only place that I applied!!

 

What has been your best memory as an engineering student? One of the best memories I have as an engineering student was my trip to China! I went with two other students (shoutout to Katie Ciccaglione!) to represent Penn State and Utree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to teach a four day workshop. We primarily taught Chinese graduate students about presentations and writing. We also held consultations each day so we were able to have some one-on-one time with students. It was so interesting to learn about their research and get to know the students. We also were able to explore Shanghai for a few days which was so cool!

 

What has been your best memory as a Penn State student? My best memory as a Penn State student has been being a Family Relations Captain. I was able to spend the year getting to know the Four Diamonds children and families and learning about their stories. The families are so inspiring and serve as a reminder that although an engineering student's schedule is busy, difficult and sometimes stressful, at least we have the chance to take the classes and feel these emotions. Not only did I get to know families, but I also was a part of the Adopt-A-Family team where I helped pair families with Penn State organizations! Overall, this experience was rewarding in so many ways!

 

What advice would you give a first-year engineer? Get involved with as much as your can your freshman year, even if it means going outside of your comfort zone!! Even if you don't stay super involved with all the activities you try, you will be more likely to become really active in one or two clubs for the rest of your time at Penn State!

 

Give me one fun fact about yourself. I make really yummy homemade cinnamon rolls!

 

 

Mimi is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering.