Shocker Engineering Academy (SEA) is the week before classes start in the fall. It’s made for incoming first generation college students studying engineering. Not only does it help you get acquainted with campus resources like the Shocker Career Accelerator, CARE Team and GEEKS Tutoring (tutoring center for engineering) but it is jumpstarts your connection to the college community.

I did SEA before my freshman year and had no idea what to expect. The first day was all about group bonding. We went to a YMCA camp and essentially hung out all day. We went canoeing, climbed a rock tower, did archery and had the opportunity to go on this huge rope swing (yikes). I met some awesome people that I still talk to now two years later.

The rest of the week includes sessions that get you acquainted with the resources I mentioned above as well as some much-appreciated math review to get you ready for class. In between the information sessions, you also get to build a GoBabyGo car (by far my favorite part). GoBabyGo is a club on campus that modifies off-the-shelf ride-on toy cars for kids with disabilities. Building a car teaches you engineering foundations like wiring a simple circuit and basic design principles, as well as how to work in a team.

The second highlight of the week was the big spoons tournament we had. The mentors create a bracket and trophies. There’s also a loser’s game where we play for the biggest loser (gets their own special trophy), and the winner gets their shot at redemption and plays in the finals.

Many of the mentors (like me), are also part of other clubs like National Society of Black Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, so they can get you plugged in to groups like those. SEA is a great way to jumpstart your college career and is an all-around fun week. I can’t recommend it enough.