A Diverse Engineering Experience

Transitioning to college life can be difficult, and extra hurdles–like a particularly rigorous major, or feeling underrepresented in your community–can make it that much harder. Fortunately, the Grainger Engineering Graduate Student Diversity Ambassadors are here to offer their time and talents to students who might be looking for that little bit of extra support on their academic journey.  

This year marks the program’s very first cohort of ambassadors, all looking forward to making a difference in the lives of their fellow students. These diversity ambassadors mentor undergraduate engineering students, host events, recruit and support students from diverse backgrounds, and more.

Bioengineering graduate third-year Brittany Payan, a student in professor Brenden Harley’s lab, is one of seven current Grainger Engineering Graduate Student Diversity Ambassadors. She first became an ambassador because she’d had such a positive experience with mentors of her own while receiving her undergraduate degree. 

“When I came to Illinois, I became really eager to find a community,” Brittany said. “But I wanted to do a little bit more. I wanted to be more engaged with students. I wanted to be able to help others the way that my mentors in the past had helped me.”

Mentoring is one of the ambassadors’ biggest emphases, Brittany said. Each ambassador has three to six mentees assigned to them, and these assignments are made based on research interests. This way, undergraduate students will have the advantage of access to a mentor who has the same engineering passions that they do.

“We try to meet with them consistently, give them advice, answer any questions they might have, and just help them start building a community here at UIUC,” Brittany said, adding that the program can be especially helpful for her first-year mentees. “The first year is extremely overwhelming,” she said. “And I want to be someone they can rely on.”

While the program is still very new, Brittany has already had positive experiences as a diversity ambassador, and recommends the program to anyone who is passionate about diversity and interested in helping build a foundation for this exciting new program. She also encourages undergraduate students to seek out mentors through the diversity ambassadors, especially those who might be from out of state, a different country, or generally “don't feel like they have a community here yet,” she said. 

The program is hoping to continue growing in the future, and has plans to welcome a new cohort of ambassadors next year. If you’re interested in becoming a mentor in the future, connecting with a mentor now, or just learning more about the program, visit the Grainger Engineering Graduate Student Diversity Ambassadors’ website.

“A diverse group of people creates the best ideas,” Brittany said. “You're getting all sorts of inputs, all sorts of different knowledge. Everyone has a different perspective. And if you're seeing things from a lot of different points of view, you're going to get some really cool ideas. Diversity is really important.”