Leah Courtney

  1. About Leah
    1. Year: Class of ‘23
    2. Hometown: Champaign, IL
    3. Hobbies: Baking, reading, growing plants, spending time with friends
  2. Major & Why
    1. Leah is studying Civil and Environmental Engineering and is planning to specialize in Environmental Engineering or Energy-Water Environmental Sustainability. Leah loved STEM and the environment growing up and wanted to combine these interests to solve problems and make the world more sustainable.
  3. Life at UIUC
    1. Favorites: Leah likes that there are so many different communities to be a part of at UIUC. She also really likes the food on Green Street.
    2. Why she chose UIUC: Leah had the chance to speak with a WIE Ambassador while looking at colleges and the student’s passion for the program really stood out to her. She was also selected as a GFX Global Sustainability Scholar and had a chance to travel to Costa Rica with the class, which was also a unique opportunity that solidified her interest in Illinois.
  4. Student Organizations
    1. Society of Women Engineers: Leah is a part of the Outreach committee and helped to plan Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, a large event for high school students. She loves being a part of SWE because it is such a welcoming community of women who are always pushing one another to succeed.
    2. Chi Epsilon: Chi Epsilon is a Civil Engineering honors society and Leah is the treasurer for this group.
    3. Zero Waste Sustainability Working Advisory Team: As a part of the Zero Waste SWAT team, Leah works with faculty, staff, and students to create proposals that make our campus more sustainable.
  5. Extracurriculars 
    1. Leah is an intern with WIE where she plans recruitment events and helps to organize the GFX Global Sustainability Scholars class. She will also be interning at Fehr Graham over the summer, and will be an Engineering Learning Assistant for Engineering 100 in the fall.
  6. Advice to Freshmen
    1. Leah’s advice is to join something you’re interested in. She says that if there’s something you feel excited about, find an organization that will connect you to it, because that will really make your college experience what you want it to be.

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