Bucknell’s population of student-athletes is around 700 of the roughly 3,600 students on campus. Of that population of students, there are around 5% that are declared as mechanical engineers in the school of engineering. Bucknell’s school of engineering is at the forefront for pushing the boundaries of what a “small school” is capable of. However, like all STEM related majors, there is an unproportionate ratio of men to women. So, what is it like being a part of the small proportion of student athletes, the small community of engineers, while also being a one of the women that are daring to be all of the above? Sophomore, Sarah Ramirez, gives us the inside scoop on what her day to day life looks like at Bucknell as a mechanical engineer on the Bucknell Women’s Volleyball Team.
Ramirez starts her day with a prompt seven a.m. wake up, which we can all agree is earlier than the average college student. She then goes to four classes a day, thermodynamics, material science, calculus, and chemistry, on top of two labs added in each week. In between classes, Sarah eats a quick bite and is off to prepare for lift and practice with her team. She highlighted that the locker room is a place in which she also does work when her team is waiting around in between responsibilities. Post-practice consists of a quick team dinner and then back to her dorm or the library where she completes the rest of her work for the day. Then promptly (and understandably) off to bed right after. When asked about why she does what she does, why the early mornings and late nights, why push her body and mind to the limits daily? She responded with a simple “I thoroughly enjoy the process of designing and creating things that can help other people,” not to mention the confidence she says she gains from knowing that she can complete her day-to-day task with a decent amount of ease.
After discussing what it means to be an engineer and student-athlete, Sarah explained her favorite part of being an engineer is being able to apply what she learns in her lectures to real life situations in the lab. All whilst being able to get creative and work collaboratively with her peers makes the grueling daily schedule worth it. And although she is a minority when it comes to her classes (she is only one of four women), she explained that it really does not affect her as much as she thought it would. More specifically, it is vital to the preparation she receives because in “real life” she will also be in the minority of women engineers. Ramirez said that she can understand how it can be daunting to be one of four women in a class of men, but for the most part, she has never felt less than or intimidated by that fact. Sarah also makes it a point to emphasize that the experiences she has had at Bucknell, although not always pretty, have made her realize how capable she actually is. She values the confidence she gains when she is able to complete her homework or finish a lab. When we asked what the best piece of advice she has received, she responded, “I know this might sound cheesy, but honestly just keep pushing, because it is going to be hard, but you will get through it”.