Ambassadors program beneficial for students, College of Engineering
Jaatani Abdi was surrounded by the best of Purdue University’s College of Engineering.
During the 2023 Distinguished Engineering Alumni dinner and awards ceremony, Abdi listened intently as the college’s elite shared experiences, advice, failures and successes along journeys that started exactly where his did.
The alumni once in his shoes were being honored for incredible achievements by one of the most consequential engineering colleges in the country.
“It really drove me to think about all the different paths I could take after finishing my degree,” Abdi said, “and inspired me to imagine what I could one day accomplish with a Purdue Engineering degree.”
Abdi’s presence at the ceremony was courtesy of the College of Engineering ambassadors, and that experience has held as one of his favorite moments as an ambassador. But the list of benefits has been significant for Abdi, who will graduate in May with a degree in chemical engineering after spending three years as an ambassador.
Abdi can’t quite imagine his Purdue experience without it.
Safe to say ditto for the other 150 students who have participated since the group was launched in 2012.
And now is the time for more students to join the group.
Applications are open through Feb. 7, 2025. Ambassadors must have completed the First-Year Engineering Program in West Lafayette by fall 2025, have at least a cumulative 2.8 GPA and have at least two semesters remaining before graduation.
The ambassadors will hold callouts at 6 p.m. Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 in LMBS 5237. Interviews with finalists will be Feb. 24-25.
New ambassadors will participate in training this spring, in preparation for Fall 2025 ambassador events.
“There’s value for all parties,” said Nathan Engelberth, director of academic advising in the College of Engineering and advisor for the ambassadors. “These are students that are looking to give back to the college but also looking to really continue to grow their skill set. They’re curious students who want to do more, learn more and see that as an end unto itself, the curiosity and the learning. Ultimately, we know that that then propels them forward in ways that happen more so than maybe other students, but they aren’t necessarily doing it to propel themselves forward. It’s truly that curiosity and information-seeking and wanting to continue to grow.
“For the college, it’s a great group of students who are eager to help us further the mission of the college. It’s this nice, synergistic (relationship).”
The affiliated one-credit ENGR 40600 (Engineering Ambassador Leadership Seminar) course focuses on professional development and serves as in-depth leadership skill building. Engelberth, who leads the course, considers the ambassadors “leaders among leaders,” so the intent of course is more Leadership 401 than 101, he said.
Not only do the ambassadors get to hear directly from college administration and offer feedback directly to the people who make decisions, but they naturally become tight knit over the weekly Tuesday night sessions. It’s not uncommon for one of the discussions to evolve into kind of a group therapy session as students share common experiences, open up about challenges and offer encouragement.
Abdi said he looks forward to the course every week in part because it has helped him become “more comfortable in situations where I may not have been otherwise.”
Many of the ambassadors are heavily involved in student organizations or clubs, and having a group of like-minded, motivated students to meet with each week is helpful.
“When I was an ambassador, I was president of a club, I was an RA, I was in band, so I was running around a lot, but to meet other students and hear their perspective about how did you tackle getting through the pandemic, how do you fundraise, having this network of student leaders pulled a lot for me then to go to my club and my organizations and hopefully implement some of my ideas,” said alumnus Sam Dlott, who graduated in 2023 after serving one year as an ambassador.
More than the course, the ambassadors are exactly that: ambassadors to the College of Engineering for donors and alumni. Ambassadors attend dinners, college-level events and athletic events, all of which provide opportunities for networking.
They host guests in a football suite one weekend, attend a dinner with distinguished alumni during the week or, maybe, enjoy a breakfast with alumni astronauts on another.
“I’d very much recommend it. Above all else, it was a community of students who wanted to give back to the college,” Dlott said. “Being in that atmosphere really helped me appreciate the university more. And, (No.) 2, you’re a volunteer and you’re using your time to hopefully help the college in a meaningful way and hopefully get something out of it in return.”
Abdi said one of his takeaways from the experience is “people actually care about what you think as a student.”
“It’s super easy to be insulated and feel like the student experience isn’t taken into consideration, but I’ve found that couldn’t be farther from the truth,” he said. “Everyone that I have talked to, whether it be prestigious donors or alumni who haven’t been back to campus in three decades, is always so eager to hear about what I think and seek out my input on recent developments on campus. Ambassadors has been a way for me to make my voice heard on behalf of others, and I am also confident that any student who is passionate about something can always make their opinion known.”
