1. Name: Emma Pines-Schwartz
2. Year in school: Middler (3rd Year)
3. Major: Mechanical Engineering
4. Hometown: Oakland, CA
5. When did you join Chi Omega?
Spring 2016, I’m honored to be a part of the Charter Class!
6. Why did you join Chi Omega? Have you held any positions?
My best friend from home goes to the University of Washington in Seattle and when I told her Chi Omega was coming to campus, she told me I had to at least try. So I did, and I fell in love with the ideals and purposes of Chi Omega after the first info session. In the end, I joined Chi Omega to be a part of a community on campus that gives purpose to each of its members. Chi Omega encourages women to strive to be their best self and to uplift one another with unconditional sisterhood. I joined Chi Omega because of the endless opportunities I knew it would give me to achieve my goals and shape who I hope to be. I have found amazing friends and wonderful sisters that I would have never crossed paths with if it weren’t for Chi Omega. I am so grateful to be part of a chapter that has grown so incredibly much in the first year of being chartered. I am so thrilled to see where we go in the years to come!
I was honored to be our colony Director of Programming, Fall 2016 Homecoming Chair, and I am currently our Apparel Chair. Each position has been an amazing experience that has helped me grow as a leader and has given me the chance to make an impact on our chapter.
7. What else are you involved in on campus?
I hold the Israel Chair position on Hillel e-board. I have started an event series where we come together as a community to cook delicious Israeli food while also participate in an open and comfortable conversation about different aspects of Israel. I am excited to be going to Las Vegas this weekend to participate in an Israeli advocacy conference with students from around the country. I also have the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Washington DC in March to attend the AIPAC Policy Conference.
Aside from student clubs, I work in the IT Department (when I am not on co-op) as a Phone Support Analyst answering calls for the school’s population. If you call that HELP number you see all over the library, it might be me who answers!
Lastly, I was a Peer Mentor for Introduction to Engineering in the fall of 2015 to help students with their transition into college and into the school of engineering.
8. Have you been on any co-ops? If so, where?
I have! I worked at a naval architecture/marine engineering firm in Braintree during Spring 2016 as a naval architect/marine engineer. In short, I helped design vessels on a computer program called AutoCAD. I was able to work on a variety of vessels, even a ferry for the Maine Department of Transportation; it was really awesome knowing my work was going into something real!
I currently work at Sanofi Genzyme at the Framingham location. Genzyme primarily makes treatments for orphan diseases (diseases that only a small portion of the population have). I work as a Process Equipment Engineer which means I help maintain the equipment that produces the treatments. I have only been here a little over a month and I already feel like I have an impact on the company. I love talking about it so if you ever run into me, feel free to ask me anything!
9. What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Northeastern?
My favorite class I have taken so far would probably have to be Thermodynamics. It was such a challenging class but I found the content so interesting and it was so satisfying when I finally understood each concept.
10. What advice would you give to younger girls who are considering coming to Northeastern and joining Greek life?
I have seen over and over again the effect that joining Greek life has on women. Confident, fearless, loving, passionate, strong, determined, persevering, optimistic, compassionate, empathetic. These are a few of the words that come to mind when I think of the women I know in Chi Omega and Panhellenic at Northeastern as a whole. The advice I would give is to not let anything hold you back and to be yourself because when you are able to do both, nothing can stop you from achieving what you set your mind to.