MEDIA, Pa. — Second-year environmental resource management major Adelaide Etshman has found multiple ways to get involved on campus and beyond. From running on Penn State Brandywine’s cross-country team to serving as president of the campus’ Turning Point USA chapter, she has taken on leadership roles that reflect her dedication to both personal growth and community engagement.
Etshman chose to attend Penn State Brandywine for her first two years of college because she wanted to get a Penn State education while still being close to home.
“I chose Brandywine because I wanted all of the benefits of a Penn State education — the alumni network and the vast array of programs offered — and Brandywine allowed me to do that affordably. Choosing Brandywine also gave me the chance to run cross-country,” she said.
While at Brandywine, Etshman has been a very involved student. She is captain of the Brandywine cross-country team, where she made her best time in a 5K race at 29:35 and is a United East Scholar Athlete. In addition, she is the cross-country representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
Her major will take her to the University Park campus for the next academic year to complete her degree, but Etshman said her time at Brandywine has taught her self-discipline and how to effectively manage her time, thanks to her leadership and involvement.
“It takes discipline to manage time well; I just try my best to keep away from distractions and make the intentional choice to prioritize the important things because I know that that will serve me well in the future,” she said.
“A big part of it is just motivating yourself with the idea of having free time later on. One of the biggest things that I have been learning this year is how to delegate, which is really helpful, especially when you are surrounded by hardworking people.”
That same drive to get involved extended beyond campus this past summer, when Etshman traveled to Tanzania for two weeks with the Poema Project, a boarding school project in Tanzania that offers free boarding school to children who have been abandoned or have disabilities.
During the trip, Etshman worked alongside seven other missionaries from the United States, as well as residents and volunteers, to teach more than 200 kids about Christianity and help them practice English.
“The most impactful part of the trip was getting to spend time with the children and get to know their personalities,” she said.
Her time at Brandywine prepared her for the trip, as her public speaking courses and her classes for her major helped her succeed.
“First of all, Angela Putman (associate professor of communication arts and sciences) in my public speaking course helped me to develop my confidence in speaking publicly, which was instrumental when we taught lessons to classrooms of over 60 kids. It also helped me to raise money for the trip and to give a briefing after the trip to my church,” she said.
“Secondly, two big issues for the developing boarding school and Tanzania in general are agriculture and energy production. As an environmental resource management major, I was able to have interesting and exciting conversations with various people about the future of agriculture and energy in Tanzania. Finally, my experience at Penn State Brandywine has equipped me with the confidence in my abilities that I needed to take a leap of faith and travel to a different continent to hopefully make some positive change in the lives of those young children.”
Whether leading her peers, representing Brandywine athletics or serving abroad, Etshman is grateful for the opportunities she’s had, as they’ve greatly shaped her college experience.
When asked what advice she would give students who want to do volunteer work abroad, she said to go for it.
“Just do it. It was probably the best two weeks of my life,” Etshman said. “I did it a little bit spontaneously. It was so worth it to be spontaneous and travel to a different country.”