September 2017: Student Spotlight featuring Sara Rose Monahan

Hometown

New Rochelle, NY

Major: Chemical Engineering

Activities & Involvement: Villanova Band, Pi Beta Phi Sorority, Society of Women Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Career Aspiration: Earn a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering

Favorite Quote: “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.” -Alan Jay Lerner

Extraordinary Circumstances: Sara Rose’s father suffered from a traumatic brain injury and is no longer able to work.

Work Experience: She has worked in the campus mailroom, as well as a cashier on campus. Over the summer she did analytical water testing work for Aquarian Water Company.

“In Greek, the word Agape means the highest form of love; love that transcends and shows no boundaries. The agape that you’ve shown me by having faith in my academic career and supporting my dream of finishing college even though you don’t know me personally empowers me to work harder. I will be forever grateful, and I hope one day to be able to do the same for future students.” -Sara Rose Monahan

Last year, I was the service chair for Villanova’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). As the service chair, I got to prepare a lot of our service events. I organized events with a Girl Scout Troop, elementary schools, and even got faculty members involved with these events. Our biggest event this year is our annual networking dinner. Held in November, the dinner is free to engineering professionals and Villanova students. Students submit their resumes and employers get to meet and network with students while enjoying a catered dinner. A lot of work goes into planning this event, but it’s great to see how many students get internships and job offers from our dinner.

I also spend a lot of my time playing flute with the Villanova band. We not only perform at all the basketball and football games, but we also perform for the community. We perform at special events around campus, like the 175th Anniversary, and we also go on a yearly service trip to bring our music to other parts of the country. On our service trip, which happens every Fall break, we perform at Veterans homes, nursing homes, and schools. I love performing for children because they get so excited to hear us play. My favorite event was performing at an elementary school in Miami my freshman year on our service trip. The kids were so excited to hear us play and sang along to a lot of the songs. I also really enjoy performing with the band at basketball games. We get great seats and I love when the crowd continues singing the songs we play after we stop. Although it can be exhausting to spend a lot of time performing, I love all the friends that I’ve made through the band.