Exploratory Studies Testimonials

“Exploratory Studies benefited me greatly! My advisor was very helpful and the personality quizzes, such as FOCUS2, helped me understand myself better and what I wanted as a major.”

“Exploratory studies has given me a chance to try out multiple majors, so I could see which ones fits me. The diversity of classes really opened my eyes to a new major that I believe I will succeed in.”

“Exploratory Studies allowed me to experience and research different fields of studies through classes, meetings, and other social constructs. It eventually led to me finding a major that I am happy with.”

 

Inside Track Testimonials

Career Design and Development had a conversation with Jasmine Tamous to understand how the Inside Track impacted her path. Jasmine is a first-year student who started in Exploratory Studies and transitioned to Mechanical Engineering. Continue reading below to learn more about Jasmine’s journey.

Freshman Mechanical Engineering Major Jasmine Tamous

Inside Track Spotlight: Jasmine Tamous, Class of 2023
School of Engineering: Mechanical Engineering Major
Bonner Program Member

American Society of Mechanical Engineers Member

 

Q: Declaring your major was a journey for you. Tell me about it!

Coming into college, I had an idea of what I wanted, but I wanted to take some time to make sure. Throughout high school, I was involved in programs like Women in Engineering and my dad is a civil engineer, so I’ve always been around engineering. I started out considering biomedical and civil engineering.
Completing my fall semester in the Exploratory Studies program was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It gave me time to do a lot of research: I shadowed at my dad’s office, I took the FOCUS2, I met with the department chairs in many engineering disciplines, went to Career Design and Development, and met with a biomedical engineering senior. In my freshman seminar class, we completed a values assessment and worked on our Inside Track Map, which also impacted my decision.
I landed on Mechanical Engineering after a few different people mentioned it in our conversations. It actually was an engineering discipline that wasn’t even on my radar initially… it was my wild card! I learned that there are lots of different career paths you can take with Mechanical Engineering and that really interested me.
Q: How did you use the Inside Track Map to come to your decision?
Filling out the Inside Track Map prompted me to think about my interests and question them. At first, things weren’t matching up. That’s when I started to do more research. I started to recognize themes in what I wanted. For example, I wanted a variety in my job tasks. That led me to Mechanical.

 

 

Q: What plans do you have for your future at Widener?

I’d like to gain some work experience through a summer internship and a co-op. I joined the Bonner Program and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. I hope to end up on their board some day, to start working toward an Oskin Leadership Certificate, and to make Dean’s List.

Q: Jasmine, congratulations on successfully securing a CO-OP with Camber Spine!! Could you please tell us about your experience?

I am an associate project engineer intern at Camber Spine. Some of my roles in this position is to create new designs for some projects, attend cadaver labs, learn, and help with Design History Files, make customs for surgeons, and offer any assistance to any of the current project engineers. My experience at Camber Spine has been absolutely amazing I have met some of the most amazing people here. I get to work with surgeons to get feedback and test the protypes to be released for sale. Every day is never the same at the office and there is so much to do but it’s the kind of busy that is exciting and not overwhelming. I have learned so much about the design process for the medical devices, modeling in Creo, interreacting with clients, and lastly how to create designs. My time at Widener really helped prepare me for this position at Camber Spine and I can’t wait to continue this journey and learn even more. I am very thankful that Widener offers co-op because I feel like this experience not only solidifies my major but also helps me prepare for life after Widener. I really love it here and can’t wait to continue to learn and grow as an engineer.