#PROFspective: Chemical Engineering Major John Schneider

Today we speak with John Schneider, a senior chemical engineering major from Glassboro, Gloucester County, who lives on campus in Whitney Center apartments. John will share his #PROFspective with us on what it’s like to be a Rowan University student and how he’s getting the most out of his college experience as a Rowan Prof.

Name: John Schneider
Major: Chemical Engineering within the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering
Year: Senior
Housing: On Campus Resident Whitney Center (Apartment-Style Residence Hall)

Minor: Business Administration within the William G. Rohrer College of Business

Concentration: Honors Concentration

Hometown/County: Glassboro, NJ (Gloucester County)

Academic clubs:
President of Engineers Without Borders; American Institute of Chemical Engineers Freshman Mentor; STEM Symposium Coordinator; Bantivoglio Leadership and Service Training Coordinator (BLAST)

Athletic clubs:
Treasurer of Club Tennis; Intramural Bowling

Social clubs:
Leadership Rowan First-Year Connection Mentor

Do you work on campus?

Yes, I work as an Admissions ambassador, giving campus tours for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Do you work off campus?

I have held two internships the last two summers. My first one was with the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard and this past summer I worked in a Sherwin-Williams manufacturing plant in Kansas. I am also currently working part time in an Amazon warehouse.

Why did you choose your major?

I chose chemical engineering because of the passion I developed for science, specifically chemistry, and mathematics in high school. I am doing my business minor to supplement the engineering because my hope is to utilize both backgrounds and be on the project management level in the future.

One reason you chose Rowan?

I chose Rowan for three reasons. Rowan was a financially responsible choice and had an excellent chemical engineering program. The main reason I chose Rowan was for its size and atmosphere though. I love being in this town and being in a high school where everyone knew everyone. I felt Rowan was a very personable university where the class sizes allowed you to really get to know your peers and professors both socially and professionally. I always like to say Rowan has a “big-small” feel in that it is a fairly large campus with many new students you meet each day; however you still see familiar, friendly faces that gives the small community feel I really love.

student studies in lab

My Typical Day as a Rowan Student:

For me, every day is an adventure and brings forth new challenges I am always eager to undertake. I generally wake up at about 7:30 a.m. every morning and usually find myself going to bed between 2 a.m – 3 a.m. Even though I am from so close to Rowan, living on campus makes the transitions between each day so much easier. I honestly love being busy.

Mondays are typically my most busy day for me (I feel everyone has one day that usually is). I have my 8 a.m. and then right from my class, I go to Savitz Hall to work for admissions where I provide tours to prospective high school students looking to attend Rowan. I absolutely love that “job” (is it really considered a job if I enjoy doing it so much?). Following work, I have some time for homework, go to my next class, and then have a double lecture after that. What makes Mondays so stressful though is that all the work for my hardest class called system dynamics and controls (which is online) is due by midnight. I always find myself and my friends each Monday doing last minute edits to our homework, scanning the homework, formatting it in a Word document with graphs and figures, and finally uploading and submitting the work to the online system called Canvas.

I have a minimum of two classes each day throughout the remainder of the week and do not have as much difficulty on these days compared to Mondays. However, every day is special in the variability of tasks that need to be completed.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have my engineering clinic. Clinic is where engineering students are provided with real world projects, many of which are sponsored by either faculty student works on machine members or companies. My current project is currently looking at improving technology commercialization at Rowan. This is the process of taking ideas and projects students and faculty members are developing, and getting them patented and to the market for consumers. I really love the research because it requires an engineering approach to research and problem solving, but also greatly involves a business mindset. I also love how the work I am doing may be able to help my university grow to be even better than it currently is now.

I really love Wednesdays and Fridays the most. Wednesdays are great because once again, I get to “work” after my 8 a.m. and at night, I have bowling. Bowling provides me with an awesome break in the middle of the week where I don’t worry about homework for a few hours and enjoy myself with friends in a fun environment. Fridays are also awesome because I have biweekly meetings alternating between Engineers Without Borders and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and directly after I have tennis practice. I am an avid tennis player and love having this break in my schedule each week to go out and hit with friends.

I’m now entering my final stages of my career at Rowan (or maybe not). Right now, I am applying for jobs, but was offered a graduate research position here at Rowan and am seriously contemplating furthering my education with a master’s degree in engineering management. I have loved every second here at Rowan and would not change any of it for a different experience.

Story organized by: Jen Green and Natalia Panfilova

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