Conversations with Cece
What Has Been Your Favorite Course through Spring ’25?
My favorite course so far has been Thermodynamics. I enjoyed the class environment as well as the material, where we learned about topics such as different thermodynamic cycles, components of power plants, and were able to design our own power plant.
You played with the club team as a first-year and joined the varsity as a sophomore. How much did you grow as a player during that first year?
With the absence of a lot of pressure while playing on the club team, I became more comfortable and confident on the ball, but I think most of my growth came in the form of mental resilience. It was difficult to reach back out to the coaching staff, train even when unmotivated, and believe in myself and my ability to have a position on the team.
Coach Van Vechten says you devote as much as 30 hours per week to college athletics. How do you balance that with a rugged academic schedule?
It’s important to prioritize. It’s also crucial to be efficient and stay engaged while working, but also give yourself time to rest and reset, and having a supportive team of 29 other girls in similar situations helps to keep me motivated and focused.
Did you do any internships in previous semesters or in the summer? Can you talk about that a little, please?
Over this past summer, I worked for a Construction Management company, and we were assigned with expanding a hospital’s Emergency Department. I learned about different construction delivery methods– gaining hands-on experience in Integrated Project Delivery and Lean construction practices. I also helped with the jobsite colocation setup and visual management, documentation, and sat in on design and construction meetings.
Where does your sustainability minor fit with your academic major of Mechanical Engineering?
I chose Mechanical Engineering because it is very broad and allows me to combine my passions for engineering and sustainability. Mechanically engineered products are all around us, so there is a lot of opportunity in finding more sustainable design and manufacturing processes, as well as materials within MechE.
When did you begin playing soccer?
I started playing in 2nd grade when I was 7 years old.
Did you play with any travel teams at home in Pennsylvania? Where did the teams play?
I played on a few travel teams, with the most recent being FC Delco out of Philly. We traveled mainly along the East Coast, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. We also traveled to Texas for a tournament.
What made the University attractive for you?
While coming in not on a team, the academic reputation the University had was most attractive to me, along with the possibility of joining a varsity team here.
