A short five years (!!) ago I visited the University of Virginia through the Society of Women Engineer’s High School Visitation program. I got to come to UVA for a day and stay overnight with Radhika and experience a weekend at college. Throughout the day SWE had lots of useful activities lined up such as academic and lifestyle panels, a majors fair with professors, design activities to bond with other girls, tours of dorms and Grounds as well as an exciting scavenger hunt that ended with a performance on the steps of the Rotunda at night. It was a whirlwind of a day but allowed me to really understand what it felt like to go to this school. Before then I had flitted on and off campus helping cousins move in to dorms or apartments but hadn’t really had time to explore all of Grounds. What I was most impressed with during my visit was the community that I saw among the SWE volunteers and the engineering school in general. Everyone was so close knit and I knew that was the type of community that I wanted to define my college years. Fast forward a year, I went to SWE’s Welcome Picnic and got involved with the organization here on Grounds. I volunteered at several events and then ran for an exec position as a Publicity Committee Chair. I have loved the academic, outreach and social opportunities that SWE has given me over my four years here and I truly love the message that this organization promotes.

Taking SWE’s exec board’s pictures this year brought me full circle, back to the steps of the Rotunda with  a community that I am so proud to be able to say I am a part of now!

I can’t say how excited I am to be able to take pictures on the Rotunda once again! This place just embodies anyone’s time at UVA! And apparently it is as alluring to babies as it is to college students! 😀

Exec by the years!

I think my favorite part was taking headshots for all of these girls!

Good luck to you guys this year, I can’t wait to see how you move this organization forward this year and how you will positively impact the UVA, Charlottesville, and greater community. I hope that we will continue to support each other during our time, here get more girls of every age involved in STEM, , and show them what it is like to be a women engineer at the University of Virginia!