Name: Molly O'Brien

 

Hometown: Doylestown, PA

 

High School: CB West

 

Activities Outside of WEPO: Volunteer for H.E.A.L. a THON special interest group, Volunteer Tutor for the State College Area High School, Tutor for WEP Facilitated Study Groups

 

Internship/Co-Op Experience: Intern with Air Liquide this summer. Air Liquide is a French chemical company. They produce high quality gases for industrial and medical applications. I am helping their engineering and construction group design and build plants.

 

Why did you choose to come to Penn State? I came to Penn State because I wanted to pursue engineering and French. I am a double major in Electrical Engineering and French and Francophone Studies. I have also already had the opportunity to study abroad in France at Penn State. (I studied abroad last summer in Eastern France for 9 weeks).

 

What has been your best memory as an engineering student? My best memory as an engineering student has been building a speaker in my first circuits class. At the end of the semester we had to design and solder our own speaker. It was so exciting when I plugged in my iPod and music started playing!

 

What has been your best memory as a Penn State student? My best memory as a Penn State student would have to be seeing the total revealed at THON as a freshman. It was an overwhelming experience. I cried for about 3 hours straight when the families went through and told their stories. And then after that we all got to see how much money we raised. It was awesome. WE ARE!

 

What advice would you give a first-year engineer? I would say enjoy freshman year. Enjoy the chaos of adjusting to college because pretty much everyone around you is on your side, and you will eventually get the hang of balancing studying and everything else. That being said, respect how difficult your classes are. Even if they seem easy, assume all of your classes are really hard. This approach will help you succeed right away and establish your academic confidence in college.

 

Give me one fun fact about yourself. I love to paint big acrylic floral paintings!

 

 

Molly is a junior studying Electrical Engineering as well as French and Francophone studies.