SWE Meet up | Photo provided by Noel Fleeman
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is all about empowering women and building them into the next generation of society’s leaders.
Being a woman in a field typically dominated by men is no easy task. SWE provides a support system for women of all different majors and all different levels of education.
“I had somebody tell me during my first week of school, I think she was a senior in engineering, ‘most women who are in engineering are going to quit before their second year because they either can’t handle the stress, or they can’t handle not getting good grades.’ And that freaked me out a little bit. I was like ‘why are you telling me this’” said Noel Fleeman, president of SWE. “But it’s true. I think if you don’t have somebody there who understands what you’re going through, you’re just gonna quit.”
A safe space for women engineers
The SWE is a safe space for women to talk to other females about current struggles and shared experiences.
“It can be extremely intimidating to be one out of four females in a room full of 40 students,” said Lauren Yeary, the organization’s event coordinator. “SWE is a place for females to realize that they are not alone and that there are other strong women they can relate to.”
According to Sarah Stacklin, vice president of SWE, the organization is a great place for freshmen to find guidance, support or more information about their major.
“It gets you involved and gives you connections on campus. It helps you make friends and builds your resume as well,” said Stacklin.
Building a community
SWE helps their members in a variety of ways.
The organization takes part in donation events, resume critiques and brings in successful women engineers to speak to the club.
“It was that moment during the week where I could just go and get my mind off of everything,” said Fleeman.
Members of the organization will have access to resources to help them improve their chances of being successful women engineers.
SWE has many upcoming goals for this semester, including being more service-oriented, recruiting freshman and giving back to the community.
“We also want to be more social,” said Fleeman. “It’s a very stressful major.”
To participate in the SWE donation drive for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, there will be various boxes around campus.
Look for them in the lobbies of Rike and several other buildings as well as the Student Union.
SWE has weekly meetings and all are welcome to attend.
