Dean's Community Message

April 11, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday and have an opportunity this weekend to connect, at least virtually, with family and friends. Earlier this week, our family gathered on Zoom to celebrate my mother’s birthday. That was a new experience, for sure(!), and yet another example of how we’re all adjusting in ways big and small these days.

Today, I wanted to share a quote from one of my favorite inspirational leaders — someone we’ve quoted previously in these emails. His words continue to resonate in 2020.

“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.”
—Theodore Roosevelt

If you are looking for a new connection, and you haven’t done so already, please connect with me personally on LinkedIn. And if you have some time over the next few days, why not give a shout out to someone from our engineering community who deserves recognition for the job they’ve been doing during these challenging times? Next week, we’ll be launching a web page to showcase the great submissions we’ve been receiving.

While we do not have any administrative updates today, I wanted to share a few items that might help you de-stress or inject some humor into your weekend:

Mindfulness Toolkit

The Office of Student Engagement Programs in Penn State Student Affairs assembled a digital resource of mindfulness activities and practices: “To help you adjust to these ever-changing circumstances, we have created this toolkit to provide you with a myriad of mindfulness resources that you can engage with independently to help you reduce your stress and improve your wellbeing.”

Some Good News with John Krasinski

These days, we can all definitely use more good news. If you haven’t seen actor John Krasinski’s YouTube series and are in need of a laugh and some inspiration, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Until tomorrow, please take care, stay healthy, and stay safe. Remember to follow the college on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And keep up to date on the latest Penn State developments via the University’s Coronavirus Information Site.

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering