Purdue ECE graduate Torian boosted college career with EABC
The drive from Homewood, Illinois, to West Lafayette, Indiana, was a quiet one.
Amaiya Torian had a lot on her mind as she watched the hilly landscape flatten out and Purdue University billboards appear. Firstly, why would her mom sign her up for early school? Torian couldn’t imagine an odder way to cut her last summer of high school short.
Secondly, was she going to like Purdue? Engineering? College?
Would she be able to keep up and make friends?
By the time Torian finished her first day at Engineering Academic Boot Camp (EABC) in 2022, she understood. An early start to a Purdue Engineering education, complete with college credits and a new, close-knit friend group, was the best leg up that Torian could imagine.
“I learned that there was no shame in asking for help,” said Torian, who graduated from Purdue in May 2026. “We (EABC attendees) used to study in the basement of our dorm together. There were things that I didn't know, so it was nice to learn it from my peers in a way that I could understand it.”
Established in 2006, EABC helps ease the transition between high school and college, both adjusting to life on campus and the intense pace of a college — and specifically, Purdue Engineering — education. This year, it'll run July 11-Aug. 14 in West Lafayette.
EABC provides students with the opportunity to ask questions and receive one-on-one help from Purdue faculty and peers. Days are packed with simulation courses — chemistry and calculus, two courses all first-year engineering (FYE) students take — alongside credits earned for EPICS or Vertically Integrated Project courses, communications courses and a general exposure to Purdue before campus bustles with students. The basement of Harrison Residence Hall has long been the central hub of EABC attendees for after-class studying, homework and plenty of time to play games and get to know each other.
College was not something to be completed in isolation, Torian learned.
“What helped me to balance everything was accepting help from others,” she said. “I am typically a person who believes I can do it all by myself, but one of the biggest lessons I have learned throughout college is that you need to allow others to help you and that it is not healthy or feasible to do everything by yourself. It is good to have a good balance of social interaction with all of the work that you do, so on weekends, I would truly allow myself to rest or have some fun before tackling academic or professional tasks.”
EABC mentors also introduced Torian to communities that would contribute to her success at Purdue: the Engineering Success Center (ESC) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Torian was inspired by what she learned in EABC to sign up for ENGR 18000, a seminar course for first-year students, to become immersed in Purdue resources.
Each involvement stemmed from EABC, and each one majorly enhanced Torian’s Purdue Engineering experience. In NSBE, she served as freshman council president, telecommunications chair, president and the Region IV parliamentarian, each year at Purdue respectively. Within ESC, Torian served as a student worker, coordinating logistics of ESC events and being an available set of hands for a wide range of projects.
And within the FYE seminar? Torian asked questions, learned new interview habits and strategies and ultimately returned as a guest panelist.
Most importantly for Torian, she found her first internship — the first of several — with Procter & Gamble through the course.
“One of the employees who was a Purdue alumna encouraged a group of us to take (an) online exam to make us more marketable when speaking with the employees at Industrial Roundtable, so I did that and was able to secure an interview,” Torian said. “That same woman then helped me work through how to properly answer interview questions using the CAR (Context-Action-Result)/STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) method, which was extremely helpful because I had never had to do anything like that before. I truly think that connection that was made during the seminar was very crucial to securing the internships.”
The internship inspired then-computer engineering-minded Torian to switch major paths to electrical engineering. She went from working in research and development to hands-on work in a large plant, completing equipment upgrades and other sitewide operations. And, ultimately, into a field engineering position with GE Vernova after graduation.
The first internship directly shaped her path after Purdue.
All thanks to an early boost, some early campus memories and a few course credits to start Torian’s Purdue Engineering journey.
