Stephanie Marble

I was born and raised in small town California. I absolutely love California but for college I wanted to experience something different. When choosing a school, I wanted a good engineering school, the four seasons, and plenty of outdoor activities. Cornell fit my requirements perfectly. The school and surrounding area are truly breathtaking and the university offers so many opportunities, both in academia and fun. Also important to my college decision was the presence of an excellent Army ROTC program. I had received a four year scholarship for Army ROTC and chose the Cornell ROTC program because it is among the best in the country.

As a result of ROTC, my experience in the Engineering school has been somewhat different than the average student. Every Tuesday I show up to class in ACU’s. Three days a week I wake up at 5:30am to attend physical training. Once a semester I go away for a long weekend of army training in the woods. Through each of these things I am still an engineering student at one of the most challenging schools in the country and am subject to the same standards as my fellow engineers. While I do receive strange looks for wearing an army uniform and, at times, struggle to finish my engineering school work around ROTC obligations, the students, faculty, and staff of the Cornell Engineering College have been extremely supportive of my choice of career. That is the great thing about Cornell: everyone wants to learn about experiences different from their own. People generally have an accepting attitude toward opinions and life choices different from their own. My engineering classmates ask me questions about my experiences in ROTC and every professor I have had has been extremely accommodating with make-up exams and homework extensions necessary for ROTC training.

Along with ROTC and engineering I am also a resident advisor on West Campus. I absolutely love my job. It allows me to experience the amazing opportunities of the Ithaca area and share them with my fellow students. I’ve taken students to the NY State Fair and horseback riding off campus and events like Sitara and Big Love on campus. I already like to do these activities but I experience more of them because it is my job. Ithaca has so much to offer: from AppleFest once a year to the Farmers Market to the beautiful gorges for which Cornell is so well known.

I haven’t done any research on the Cornell Campus, though the opportunities are endless, but I did do research in Africa this summer. ProjectGO, a Department of Defense ROTC grant program, sponsored me for a six week study abroad program in Kenya. It was followed by a four week internship in Kola, Kenya where I and another intern did research on salinity levels in Sand Dams. It was a great experience and put my classes in perspective. I feel that doing research in a developing country, not to mention living there for two and a half months, has complemented my Cornell engineering degree perfectly. I think about the vastly different transportation systems of Kenya during my Future Transportation Systems class. I reflect on my own experiences of limited resources in my Sustainable Municipal Drinking Water Treatment class. And during my Geotech class, I am fascinated when  the professor talks about dirt properties that make so much sense after seeing erosion problems and sand dam functions in Kenya. The experience has also solidified my decision to make sure that my job keeps me outside and walking around as much as possible. I loved every minute of testing beautiful rivers in the Kenyan mountains and wasn’t nearly as fond of the behind-a-desk data analysis.

I have enjoyed my Cornell experience and recommend it to anyone considering Cornell Engineering. The Major Approved Electives cover the most interesting topics over a broad range of interests. The professors are doing world changing research on the same block where you go to school. I’m very glad I chose Cornell Engineering.