Lauren Morrison — College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

Lauren Morrison calls her journey to a college degree “a wild ride.”

Lauren Morrison, left, along with fellow 2015 CEET alumna Lindsey Dodis.

After graduating from high school in 2007, she became a licensed massage therapist and moved out of her parent’s home in Carpentersville to start what she considered her dream job in Chicago. She loved life in the big city…but something was missing. She wanted a greater challenge.

So, while working, she earned an associate of arts degree from Harold Washington College in 2010. But that wasn’t enough. She realized that she wanted to combine her abilities in math and science with her desire to help people. She looked at a number of colleges and programs until she found what she calls “The perfect institution for me.” The NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology  provided the academic rigor she sought and the program in biomedical engineering that she wanted to pursue.

She quickly felt at home. During her first year, she joined the Society of Women Engineers, where she eventually served as outreach coordinator, vice president and president of the organization.

Lauren says she had no hesitation entering the male-dominated world of engineering, thanks to her mom, who has spent her career working in the construction industry. She paid forward that experience by serving as a positive role model for young girls through her work in the college’s Enhancing Engineering Pathways program, and also as a very active member of the college’s Ambassador’s Club.

Teaching about STEM topics at Camp Eureka in Puerto Rico.

Last summer she traveled to Puerto Rico, where she worked for six weeks with second and third graders at the Camp Eureka STEM camp in San Juan.

In fall, 2013, Lauren started a year-long internship at United Technologies Aerospace in Rockford. That experience led to a job with the company in Minneapolis.

Lauren says she never thought when she started that she would be working on things flying over our heads, but NIU turned her wild ride into a journey to success.