As the upcoming school year approaches, my mind has been flooding with goals and things I want to accomplish this semester. It can be so easy to let time pass me by and put off goals while getting caught up in class, work, and going out. However, I know it’s also just as easy to get the ball rolling and make the achievements I told myself I would. Emily Van Dam is the perfect example of this. A senior in civil and environmental engineering and a student assistant at the UGL, Emily has her hands full but has still manages to preside over the Illinois Sailing Club as well as have positions in a variety of other fascinating clubs and projects while on campus. In one of her extra curricular activities, she competed for a $40,000 grant and won! Read her story and be ready to start the school year off on the right foot.
Student activities:
Illinois Sailing Club, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Concrete Canoe, Engineers Without Borders Guatemala Water Project, Oglala Lakota Water Project, concrete railway crosstie research
Student positions:
Commodore (President) of the Sailing Club, EOH outreach chair, Batch test lead of Oglala Lakota Water Project
HC: What is the Oglala Lakota Water Project?
This past year I have been working on the Oglala Lakota Water project. In short, we are developing a bone char filter that is capable of removing Uranium and Arsenic from contaminated drinking water on the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation. This April we went to Washington DC to compete in the EPA P3 grant competition. We were one of 6 teams to win a $40,000 award to continue our project.
HC: How did you get involved in sailing club?
I started sailing in high school with my dad and I loved it. When I came to the University of Illinois, I knew that I wanted to keep sailing but I wasn’t sure if I would be able. Luckily, I was able to find the club at quad day and I started going to meetings after that. I really liked the club and the people in it, and I have been as involved as possible ever since.
HC: As the president of a club, you have to lead and also serve as a role model. How do you accomplish this?
I have found that it is really important to strike a balance between doing what the club needs and what I need to do in order to be successful at school. Often times I rely on other club members, especially officers, to help me get everything accomplished. Sharing responsibility not only lessens my workload, but it also gives me the opportunity to work with other club members and is an opportunity for others to get more involved.
HC: What other things are important to you as a leader of a club to do?
As a leader of the sailing club, I want to make sure that everyone who joins the club feels included, has the opportunity to sail, and in general has a positive experience. Additionally, recruitment is a huge goal of mine. In order for the club to continue we need to get more members, so we take every chance we get to talk about our club.
HC: What achievements have you made in concrete canoe?
This was an exciting year for concrete canoe. I was part of the mix design team for concrete canoe, is addition to being one of the paddlers. This year our canoe placed second at regionals, and we qualified for the national competition. At nationals we tied for 13th out of 23 teams, which we were really happy about since it was our first time going for many years.
HC: You have an incredibly challenging major and are also very involved on campus. What are your tactics to get everything accomplished?
Scheduling is very important, as is priorities. It is also important to plan ahead and keep up with all of my work.
HC: You are an outstanding student. What tips and tricks do you have up your sleeve to offer HC readers for this upcoming year?
Keeping up with all of your work, instead of putting things off until the last minute, is crucial. It is a lot easier to learn material for your classes if you are paying attention the whole time than trying to cram last minute for a final.
Congrats to you Emily, on all of your impressive accomplishments thus far!