Hello! My name is Lauren Taylor and I am a Mechanical Engineering Major. This will be my second year at UCF. In 2021 I graduated from Northeast High School’s Finance Program in St. Petersburg, Florida. One of my favorite classes so far is the Intro to Engineering class, specifically the lab portion. The class is very hands on with you getting to work on a maze robot and build a boat. One of my favorite professors is Dr. Gerber. He was my teacher for Concepts in Computer Science where you learn Python. He is an amazing professor and helps you learn your first programming language. I would recommend him as a professor for any course he teaches. I chose to be a part of EXCEL to help me transition into college and into a STEM major. I chose to be a part of GEMS to be around other women in STEM and to have a mentor to help me. As a mentor I now want to be the person my mentees go to when they need help. My best advice to you is to get involved early. Your first semester try to get involved in clubs that interest you and make friends in those clubs. If later on that club doesn’t interest you anymore, don’t be afraid to go find a different club to join. Some things I like to do outside of school are reading, doing some art, watching movies (specifically anything Marvel), and playing soccer.