Every now and then you meet someone who is an absolute joy to know. Madie is one of those people for me. She’s a senior electrical engineering major, vice-president of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), and a Student Manager of Residence Operations (SMRO) for ResEd.
Madie is an electrical engineering major, which is actually a unique major for females on this campus. Her interest in electrical engineering stems from her innate curiosity and creative as well as her high ambition and drive. She explained that since she was young, her curiosity led her to take things apart, such as toys and eventually laptops, to see why they are the way they are. She also sees engineering as a way to be creative and devise unique solutions to different problems by using the discipline as a means to think outside the box.
Image Source: Madie Mastroberte
Additionally, as a highly self-motivated and driven individual, she wanted to find a major that would challenge her as well as get her out of her comfort zone. However, she didn’t solely choose this major from her own motivation. Madie told me that as a first generation college student, she also wanted to pick a major that would make her parents proud, which I’m sure her accomplishments have achieved.
As mentioned, it is rather unusual to find a female electrical engineering major at TCNJ, and being one of the few women in the entire major and in fact the only one in her year, it’s been a challenge very prevalent in Madie’s life.
She described the experience as initially being isolating and often felt the need to prove herself when working with fellow students or even professors. While working with male lab partners Madie tried to make herself a good image of what a female in the major could be by working extra hard. Even outside the classroom, and the department, she did receive disbelieving reactions from people when she shared her major.
Some professors have been especially supportive of her position, connecting her with opportunities specifically meant for women in STEM, continuously inspiring her to do her best.
Image Source: Madie Mastroberte
However, these challenges early on in her academic career have since changed and Madie says she is now in a place where she is respected by her peers for both her work and her presence.
In fact, Madie has used her challenges to serve as a mentor with younger female students in the electrical engineering major. She said while she is the only female in her year, there are more in the grades below and she is able to use her experiences to help them out.
Currently, Madie is working on a senior project where she is building, in a team of four students, a small scale self-driving car that focuses on avoiding collisions. I personally believe this is an incredible feat, and Madie herself described it as a unique experience, especially as her team has to build the piece from start to finish.
Despite all these achievements in the academic world, Madie somehow manages to do an excellent job in the role of one of the most demanding jobs in ResEd, short for Residential Education.
She started out as a Community Advisor (CA) in the freshman dorms on lakeside, but a year and a half later, she was promoted to her current position, as SMRO. Her initial interest in ResEd was sparked by her CAs who helped her with many college adjustment questions and gave her advice, especially when she didn’t know who to go to or ask for help. Her desire to be there for someone in need motivated her to apply to be a part of ResEd.
Image Source: Madie Mastroberte
As an SMRO, Madie has been able to manage a staff of 15+ Desk Assistants, organize building-wide events like fire drills, move-ins and move-outs and maintain 2 residence halls. Through the position and ResEd as a whole, she has learned about who she is as a leader, her love for management and has found her voice in speaking up with suggestions. She has learned to persevere and accomplish things, and work in a professional work setting, supporting both co-workers and employees.
Over last summer, Madie interned at Bloomberg L.P., learning how to use her background in electrical engineering in a financial software setting. Through this internship, she started learning how to code with Python and SQL, which led her to the world of data science. Data Science has been able to embody the things she likes best about electrical engineering, such as creativity and curiosity.
Image Source: Madie Mastroberte
Madie gained a support system in her coworkers at Bloomberg and will be continuing to work with them as a data analyst. In the future, she plans to pursue a Master’s Degree in data science.
As this is her last semester at TCNJ, I asked Madie if there was anything she wishes she could tell her freshman self. The two things she told me were that it’s okay and expected to ask for help and that you should find a mentor to help you through ups and downs in life and who can give you great advice.