Beau DeLaet
April 27 2016
By Emma Alexander, Honors Communications Intern
Our final student spotlight of the year is Mr. Beau DeLaet, a sophomore in Construction Engineering and Management from Wausaukee, Wisconsin, population of 575. Beau hopes to use his degree to pursue a career as a project manager for large buildings or sports stadiums.
Coming from a very small high school, Beau was interested in stepping out of his comfort zone at a much larger university. Although he toured many Big Ten schools, he shared that, ultimately, it was the esteemed academic program coupled with the Big Ten experience that drew him to Purdue.
With classes larger than his hometown’s population, I would say Beau has certainly succeeded in his goal of pushing himself outside of his comfort zone. Yet despite this drastic change of scenery, Beau has managed to make the most of his time thus far at Purdue, becoming very involved in student organizations and taking on numerous leadership positions. Through his major, Beau is involved with Beta Tau, the Honors Fraternity of Construction Engineering and Management. Through this group, he had the opportunity to participate in a service build at Happy Hollow Park, just outside of campus. Beau is also very involved with Construction Engineers of the Future.
Outside of his college, Beau is an active member of Purdue Student Engineering Foundation, through which he participates in innumerable outreach events for prospective engineering students, sharing his passion for Purdue and engineering. This spring, he also had the opportunity to serve as a host for the first annual Rising Professionals Program, and he is now a Junior Board member for Purdue Foundation Student Board.
Despite his many other responsibilities and involvements, Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) has had a monumental impact on his college experience as well. As a freshman student, he was selected as a Team Leader for BGR 2015, responsible for serving as a guide and resource to a group of new students for the week. However, in addition to serving as a team leader, Beau was selected from a large, qualified candidate pool to be the sophomore speaker at BGR opening ceremonies last fall. But this was no minor ordeal. Rather, Beau gave his speech in front of 13,000+ new students and others in Mackey Arena, something he says pushed him outside of his comfort zone yet again.
Beau shared,
I love the positivity that surrounds Boiler Gold Rush and the way it impacts so many people, especially through the struggle of adjusting to a new school and environment.
It was this love of BGR that compelled him to continue his involvement by applying to be a supervisor for BGR 2016. Supervisors, as opposed to Team Leaders, are responsible for more behind the scenes work and logistics during the week of BGR. However, they also serve as mentors for the team leaders, overseeing their training leading up to BGR and ensuring they are equipped with all the resources they need to be effective guides and mentors themselves.
Although you may think that these responsibilities, coupled with class, studying, and sleep occupy all of the hours of his day, Beau still finds time to contribute to the Honors College community. Not only is he a Stamps Scholar, but he serves as the Social Chair on the Purdue Stamps Scholars Executive Board. Additionally, he acted as a peer mentor for the Honors First Year Engineering classes this school year. His favorite part of the Honors experience?
Being surrounded by other people who are very motivated.
We are certainly honored to have Beau as a part of the Honors College. Congratulations on all you have accomplished thus far, and we wish you the best of luck as you continue to leave your mark on Purdue. We are certain you have great things ahead.
This Friday, we will be featuring some of the incredible summer plans of our students, including Beau. Be sure to check our webpage to learn more then. In the meantime, you can follow this link to peruse all of our other outstanding spotlighted students this year.
