ICE provides students with complete freshman experience

For the past five years the Illinois Connections in Engineering (ICE) program has been helping incoming freshmen get a preview of what they can expect in college life.

With the end of the program quickly approaching its July 23 conclusion, this year’s students have made the most of their opportunity to be involved with the program that incorporates academic, research, and professional opportunities.

What students are learning is that they aren’t just taking a class to help them with their academic performance starting in fall. They receive the entire freshman experience including learning how to study for classes effectively, how to interact with instructors, how to present themselves to their peers, living in the dorms and how to generally get around campus.

One of the month-long program’s students, Mik Watkins, said the experience has been an overwhelmingly positive one for him because he is learning how to use all the resources the university and the College of Engineering have to offer.

“Everyone’s here to help us, we just have to utilize the resources,” he said. “We’re taught that it’s on us to make the proper decisions and the other people – the mentors and all the coordinators – will assist us in what we choose to do. . . We realize how much a strong foundation really means when you come to college.”

Another student in the program, Edgar Uribe, said that one of his biggest takeaways from the program is the people he’s met in the program and will continue to see when the fall semester starts, which will help him both academically and socially.

“I’ve formed some amazing bonds with the students here,” Uribe said. “It’s so weird I spent four years in high school with kids that I still don’t feel as close as I am with these students here. We have so much in common, we help each other, we even form study groups within the group itself. We laugh and we accomplish our work together, and I feel that will definitely help me when I actually start school because now I know who I can study with.”

Eve Earles, ICE’s director, said most students learn that they must “take ownership of their leaning” by being responsible, by going to class, and creating good study habits. The change students go through is quite noticeable, she added, especially with the newfound confidence and demeanor they show.

“It’s phenomenal to see them come in as young, inexperienced high school students, and when the program is finished you see that they stand a little taller, speak with more assurance, have more determination and focus,” Earles said.
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Contact: Eve Earles, Office of Undergraduate Programs, College of Engineering, 217/244-9994.

Writer:  Gregory Zeck, Engineering Communications Office.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.