Nestled in the confines of McKee Hall is a unique living option geared toward engineering students. With more than 250 residents in addition to a waiting list, it is becoming an increasingly popular option.

"We recently expanded to all four floors in McKee Hall due to the amount of interested students," said Engineering House (E-House) president Liz Campo.

The special living option, located in West Halls across from the Lion Shrine and Rec Hall, brings together students from various engineering disciplines. Despite its four floors of young men and women, the house has made tremendous effort to maintain a community feel. On any given weekend one can find groups of students studying in one of the common rooms such as the "piano room," traipsing through the halls or on a campus-wide scavenger hunt or gearing up for a rousing game of broomball. And to ensure all new students get acclimated quickly, a mentoring program was recently established.

"Most of the time, these relationships will happen informally, but the great thing about this program is that it gives new students who may be a little more reserved the opportunity to build a relationship with upperclassmen," said Campo. "I've been seeing people talking to their mentees and heard that some duos have cute nicknames for each other, so it's been a success so far."

Rob Herring, a civil engineering sophomore and E-House academic chair, echoed the sentiment. "It would be silly to think you can do it on your own," said Herring. "College is really a group process, a team effort rather than an individual effort," he added.

Although interest houses aren't unique to Penn State, the accessibility of helpful students is noticeably appreciated as the budding engineers wade through some of their tougher classes. "There are so many people in the same classes as you that it's easy to find help from someone. You just need to go next door or upstairs," stated Herring.

Aside from the mentoring program, another academic series implemented by the E-House executive board is a co-op/internship discussion, in which students who have completed an internship deliver speeches to interested residents in regard to their experiences.

Justin Wyne, a computer science junior and E-House webmaster and technology coordinator, initiated one session when he discussed his recent work with Intel.

"It's nice to learn about other people's experiences and what opportunities are out there so that you can take advantage of them as well," he said.

The informational sessions serve an important function among students as it allows engineers to get a better perspective on their direction. "A lot of the activities are tailored to new engineering students, so freshmen who are undecided can attend these events and get help figuring out their discipline a little earlier," explained Wyne.

However, E-House students do not confine their educational activities to the residence. The house sponsors tours that give members the opportunity to see a side of campus rarely seen by the average student. By touring sites such as the nuclear reactor, the Creamery and Beaver Stadium, E-House residents get better acquainted with the University, while this behind-the-scenes knowledge of different buildings increases their familiarity with engineering practices.

But life is not all work with this group. "We all agreed on the executive board in the beginning of the year that one of our goals was to put an emphasis on the fact that, while we are Engineering House, we're not trying to make our academic events an extension of the classroom," asserted Campo.

Discussing the well-rounded approach of the house, one of Campo's favorite memories is the house's participation in THON, which kicked off last year with a "date auction" to raise money among the residents and culminated in an emotion-laden night of dancing and fun. The auction, run by a THON committee member, put participants on display among their friends and encouraged students to exhibit their sillier sides while raising money for a good cause.

"People come in crazy costumes and write little lines about themselves, and the person running it sounds just like an auctioneer. And we raised about $450-$500 last year!" Campo smiled.

At the foundation of the social and academic events is a community of students that care about each other and are quick to lend a helping hand. "I felt like the transition was a lot easier from high school to college," asserted Herring. "I mean, all the doors are always open, the people are always really friendly, we're all going through the same types of classes and we all know what it's like, so it's kind of nice to have that mindset around you."