Robert O'Neill '23 says he's the sort of person who "likes to get up and go - right out of the gate." The first-year finance major from Blauvelt, N.Y., is already anticipating declaring a double major in political science, has an internship lined up for winter break, and is planning ahead for a study-abroad experience at the London School of Economics. O'Neill knows what he wants to pursue, but as a first-year student who's still learning all that Bucknell and the Freeman College of Management have to offer, it helps to have a guide. Enter Connery Mayer '21, a finance major from Newtown, Conn., who has been helping O'Neill navigate the ins and outs of life on Bucknell's campus since before his classes even began. The pair connected through the Freeman Fellows Program, a new initiative within the Freeman College in which each incoming first-year management major is matched with a mentor from the junior or senior class. "You know that you have an automatic relationship with at least one upperclassman in your college and that you share a specific interest in management," O'Neill says. "It's a really good way to immerse first-year students in Bucknell and the Freeman College of Management." The program began three years ago as a one-semester teaching-assistant and mentoring program for Management 100, an introductory course that all Bucknell management majors take in their first semester on campus. This year, with support from Freeman College namesake Ken Freeman '72, the program has expanded to enable mentoring throughout the entire academic year. It not only helps incoming students get oriented to life at Bucknell - with outreach beginning as soon as incoming students commit to Bucknell in May - but continues by encouraging first year students to explore opportunities beyond the classroom and forge relationships within the broader community once they arrive on campus. "Bucknell has so many great resources on campus that it's almost impossible to know them all by yourself, especially as a first-year student," says Sam Ritter '20, an accounting & financial management major from Long Island, N.Y. "We share what's going on in the college and management that week - like if there's a speaker, or an opportunity to sign up for an internship," adds Arianne Evans '20, a Freeman Fellow mentor and managing for sustainability major from Laguna Niguel, Calif. "There's a lot that you can get involved with, not only in the Freeman College of Management but at Bucknell as a whole. We remind them that they're in a big, rich environment of opportunities, and that they can take the skills they're learning and apply them in many different settings." The advice the fellows offer goes beyond the academic. O'Neill says he's asked Mayer for advice on everything from finding internships and the classes he should take each year to more personal questions about meeting new friends and social opportunities in his first weeks on campus. For Mayer, the program has also offered a chance to pay forward the help he received as a first-year management student. "I personally felt like I gained a lot as a student from other students, and I want to reciprocate that," Mayer says. "It feels good to be the one giving answers and helping others as a mentor. I take pride in helping others achieve their goals." The program adds to an array of initiatives that support Freeman College students and help them discover new careers and real-world applications for their education, including networking and travel opportunities afforded by the college's Center for Experiential Learning and the Bucknell Mentorship Program, which pairs first-year students with advisers at leading investment, accounting and consulting firms, including Goldman Sachs and Deloitte. These Freeman College initiatives are open to all Bucknell students and add to additional University-wide advising programs, including the T.E.A.M. Mentor Program, graduate school advising and the comprehensive internship and lifelong career advising offered through Bucknell's Center for Career Advancement. With help from his Freeman Fellow adviser, O'Neill is already taking advantage of some of those opportunities. He's found another mentor in Nick Palmer '17, a trading analyst for Goldman Sachs who's helping O'Neill explore additional internship and study-abroad opportunities. "If it weren't for the Freeman Fellows program, I'd never know who he is," O'Neill says.

Growing up, Emily Bayuk '21 was fascinated with the way electricity whizzes around a circuit at lightning speed. She remembers getting a talking doll as a present and being much more interested in how its circuitry played a recording when she pushed a button than in anything the doll had to say. Bayuk wanted to learn more about circuitry and exactly how it worked, but she didn't find many books in her hometown library or bookstores that spoke to her particular interest beyond dry texts - until, that is, she decided to create her own. Over many months in her senior year of high school, Bayuk broke down the lessons she was learning in physics class to a level that middle-grade readers could understand. She then lovingly illustrated each page of the work she titled The Fundamentals of Circuits Made Easy. An early lesson on circuits sparked Emily Bayuk's curiosity about science and engineering. Today, she's creating more complex electronics as a Bucknell electrical engineering major. Emily Paine, Communications Now an electrical engineering major with a Russian studies minor at Bucknell, Bayuk is hoping to help a new generation of girls discover the same scientific miracles that magnetized her interest when she was a kid and open doors for women in the still male-dominated world of engineering. This semester, with encouragement from her electrical engineering professor Philip Asare, Bayuk decided to self-publish her bullet-journal-style book through Amazon.com, and to expand the work into a series she calls Inside Electronics. Now, as she's taking more classes in her major, Bayuk is authoring accompanying books that explicate the classes' core concepts for younger readers. She's currently at work on two new entries: one about electronic signals and another about optoelectronics, and is writing each with the assistance and enthusiastic support of her professors. It's a challenge for sure, especially as Bayuk progresses to more advanced engineering courses, but it's also an effort she passionately believes in. "A lot of what I'm learning about now I didn't even hear about when I was growing up," says Bayuk, who grew up in Bedford, N.Y. "And I feel like if I knew about it, it would have made me that much more interested in engineering. I want as many kids as possible to be introduced to it at a younger age - especially girls." A Personal Mission Bayuk's mission is a personal one that reflects her own story. She loved math from the second grade, when her grandfather, a computer engineer from the industry's fledgling years, began teaching her the basics of algebra. But by the time she reached high school, Bayuk began to realize that as her math and science classes became more advanced, the field's gender gap became more pronounced. By the time she took an AP physics course her senior year of high school, she was one of only three women left. As Bayuk takes more classes in her major, she is using what she learns to create new books. Emily Paine, Communications Bayuk doesn't want young women who share her interests to feel that isolation, but she notes in her introduction to Circuits that statistics show her experience is far from unique. Less than 20% of bachelor's degrees in engineering and computer science are awarded to women, according to the National Science Board. "Why are women underrepresented if they are equally qualified? Perhaps it is a lack of interest. I want to change that," she writes. "If they are intrigued at a young age, perhaps we can change the trajectory of women in engineering." Her books have provided Bayuk a direct method of doing just that: Later this semester she'll be leading an activity based on her book at the Lewisburg Children's Museum, where she'll introduce elementary school students to the wonders that once captivated her interest. She's also been interviewed by a local public radio station about her work and saw Circuits featured in Bucknell Magazine. She's hoping the momentum she's building will eventually lead to a publishing contract, and with it, the opportunity to reach a much larger audience. "It's all about inspiring girls," she says.

Four Bucknell University students have received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship for the 2019-20 academic year, in recognition of their past achievements and future potential in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering. The winners, all of whom plan to pursue doctorates, are Ariana Majer '20, cell biology/biochemistry; Cheyenne McKinley '20, biology; Grace Rhoades '20, chemical engineering; and Will Snyder '21, neuroscience. This is a tremendous accomplishment that reflects Bucknell's exceptional undergraduate teaching and research opportunities.

It's an odd coincidence that a sudden blow to the head started Ian Vogel of Flemington, N.J. on the path that led him to receiving a Goldwater Scholarship - one of the most prestigious academic awards an undergraduate student can garner, and one that's likely to give him his choice of graduate programs where he'll pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

Mikaela Thomas of Aurora, Colo. is the first Bucknell University student to secure a David L. Boren scholarship, which will support her study of Arabic language in northern Africa.

Bucknell undergraduate Kellen Haile '18, a mechanical engineering major, has been awarded a prestigious SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) scholarship from the U.S. Department of Defense. The competitive scholarship program is a federal workforce-development initiative to recruit highly skilled civilian employees in technical fields. Haile will receive tuition and stipend benefits as well as an offer of employment with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Md., where he plans to focus on materials science and thermal technologies for Navy ships. Only 14 percent of students who applied for the award in 2017 received scholarships. Haile is the third Bucknell student to receive the award in as many years, and the fifth since the program was instituted in 2006. At Bucknell, Haile has done undergraduate research and participated in the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, STEM Scholars Program and the Engineering Success Alliance. He is also a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, Mobile Autonomous Robotics Club, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship.

The scholarship was established in 2008 with a testamentary gift from Olive B. Barr, a 1931 graduate of Bucknell and resident of Forty Fort, Pa., at the time of her death in 2001. The scholarship reflects Barr's belief in the importance of providing an educational opportunity for students in the liberal arts curriculum.