Nicole Travis - Perseverance Award
CHEN
Post-graduation plans: Moving to Philadelphia (with her cat) to start in the Technical Sales Rotational Program; working in the industrial water treatment business with Solenis
"This award recognizes undergraduate students who persevere despite hardship."
What is your favorite memory from your time at CU Boulder?
It's hard to pick out just one memory, when it's more the people who connect these memories. I suppose the root of all those memories is when I was a jerk freshman year, and took the bigger closet in my Cockerell dorm room, which was on my roommate's side of the room (she's still mad). However, that prompted her and I to become best friends, and open up to some more of the best friendships we all still have to this day (almost a decade later), and also partake in many shenanigans along the way.
What accomplishment are you most proud of, either academically or personally?
Honestly, my proudest accomplishment is that I was able to make it through college to graduation despite the heartaches, obstacles and sometimes pretty intense frustrations that came up. I was able to do what I needed in order to achieve my goals—even if it was on a non-traditional timeline—but it allowed me to also find other things I was passionate about, such as earning a yoga teacher training certification along the way!
Tell us about a moment (or moments) when you felt like you hit your stride or felt like you were “officially” an engineer.
When I got my "Trust me I'm an Engineer" mug (just kidding). The first time I felt like I was on the right path was with my first internship with Cargill as a project engineer, with the shock from the contractors when they realized that I was just an intern, and not a real full-time engineer. And again when I was sitting in class able to connect class material to real life, and I knew that what I was learning would help me find the path to do the things where I could impact change in the world.
What was the biggest challenge for you during your engineering education? What did you learn from it?
The biggest challenge for me was dealing with imposter syndrome and comparing myself to others; in recognizing that not everyone learns or thinks the same, but that doesn't mean that I don't belong. I learned I knew I could be a good engineer and was still able to contribute in my own way, I just had to figure out how to connect some of the gaps.
What is your biggest piece of advice for incoming engineering students?
Don't be afraid to ask for help, in school or personal life. It can be really rough at times in engineering, but there are people here to help you and who believe in you, and you can definitely do it. Also, office hours are great.