STUDENT FEATURE
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Doing what they can to guide others fuels three students What’s in an identity? A lot, and yet some people don’t let their identities define them or hold them back. Instead, they use who they identify as—be it woman, man, bi-cultural, immigrant, tall, short, quiet, etc.—to make the world a little easier to navigate for others. In a year filled with so much turmoil, we found three College of Science and Engineering students at the University of Minnesota who are doing just that. These future engineers— Allison Chang (EE ’21), Pauly Soulia (ME ’21), and Sylvester Nwosuji (BME M.S. ’21)—stood out because of their tendency to put others first. They make it a point to serve as mentors, symbols of hope, and advocates for their peers across the college. They rejoice in bringing others, especially the generation coming up behind them, into their wonderful world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
BEACONS ALLISON CHANG:
Sunshine state to snowy plains Minnesota winters don’t bother Allison Chang. In fact, the electrical engineering senior, who was raised in California and Hawaii, frolics outside when the sun is bright and snow is on the ground. “The cold doesn’t really bother me,” she said. “The air reminds me of mountain air, and I really like that. It actually feels great to experience changing seasons. Except for the occasional thin sweater, I only had summer clothes before.”
(SWE) chapter and the 3M-sponsored SWEekend on the Twin Cities campus were her first face-to-face introduction to CSE. The Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Living and Learning Community was her first home away from home. “I toured other schools, but I just felt like the personality of everyone I
Chang has also grown fond of the people she’s met in the Midwest. Over the past three years, she’s connected with supportive professors in her department and other young women across the college. The Society of Women Engineers
All photos courtesy of Allison Chang
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I N V EN T I N G TO M O R R OW
