July 1, 2024

On two recent episodes of College Matters, Alma Matters, a podcast for high schoolers chronicling college preparation and college life, podcaster Venkat Raman speaks with Pennoni Honors College student Emily Woodland, BS/MS biomedical engineering '27 and alumna Maura Jervis, custom-designed major, sustainable '16 about their college experiences. 

Emily, a student in Pennoni's first-year three-course series in civic foundations — now a part of the Honors Program's Honors with Distinction track — talks about how impactful her visit to Philadelphia's intellectual society, the Franklin Inn Club, was. As part of the course on Plato's Republic, Dean Paula Marantz Cohen invited students to a dinner with members to discuss the book and exchange their opinions and ideas. She also touches on her final project for the program, designed to enhance students' understanding of the foundations that our modern democracy is built on. As a final project, students were tasked with delving into exploring some aspect of Philadelphia and presenting on it. Emily worked with the Bucks County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, creating a website about animal cruelty issues in the city.

"It was a great break from what I was learning in my biomedical engineering classes," Emily says. "I got to explore another issue ... it's dipping your foot into different disciplines. The program is a great opportunity to meet others who are similarly motivated and get a different sort of academic discussion in my day."

Emily speaks fondly about her participation in Pennoni's STAR (Students Tackling Advanced Research) Scholars Program, and getting involved in undergraduate research, exploring an artificial heart for pediatric patients.

"When I step back and look at the summer, I have to say like, 'Wow, I'm only a second-year and I spent 10 weeks of my life doing this incredible project and I learned so many technical skills, met so many incredible individuals...and this something I was definitely looking for. That's the gains you'll get out of research."

Emily also discusses the reasons she chose Drexel, the biomedical engineering major, the co-op experience, and advice for high schoolers.

“Trying all these new things in college — I'm becoming the version of myself I wish I was in high school."

Maura, the 2023 custom-designed major commencement speaker, discloses the challenge of trying to do a sustainability minor while completing a design and merchandising major and feeling like the two fields were in conflict with one another. Ultimately, she discovered Pennoni’s custom-designed major program — not to be confused, she jokes, with costume design.

Students seek out the custom-designed major, she explains, when their career goals are not being fulfilled by a traditional plan of study. She explains the structure of Pennoni Honors College to listeners as the umbrella organization, which contains the Honors Program, the custom-designed major, undergraduate research, and other student initiatives.

Her involvement in Pennoni Honors College, she goes on to say, exposed her to other fields and a sense of community.

“These students are trying to solve a problem in the world or look at societal issues from multiple perspectives.”

Maura also spoke about her co-op experiences, environmental sustainability, advice for high schoolers, and her love of Drexel.

“From the moment that I started at Drexel, I was all in … I felt like I found the right school … I feel like I found my place there.”

An earlier podcast episode also featured Dean Cohen chatting about all-things Pennoni, including courses, faculty, grants for research and career opportunities.