DITL of a Penn Engineer: ellen

A DITL of a Materials Science & Engineering + Physics major 

Feb 24, 2026

By: Ellen Hu

Intro:

Hi there! I’m Ellen, a current sophomore studying in Materials Science & Engineering and Physics in the VIPER program. Here’s a brief Monday in my life @ Penn studying, practicing, and eating :) 

7:45am. wake up + get ready. Look at the penguin! my friend got it for me during the 2024 Paris Olympics - hence, his name is Paris. Not sure why the lighting is so dark in this photo - I promise it was actually a bright day.

8:10am. walking from my dorm (Rodin) to class - crossing the bridge here.

8:30am. PHYS 0151: Electromagnetism. I'm a TA for this class :) My job includes grading HW and quizzes and answering student questions when they are working on the in-class worksheets.

10:00am. Completed the SWE Congressional Outreach application!

10:14am. ENM 2510: Partial Differential Equations. This class is on the 3rd floor of Towne so I was kind of out of breath by the time I made it lol.

12:00pm. Lunch @ Kcech! I need to come here more they have good fruit.

1:30pm. Headed over to VP library

Here's a new study spot I found on the 3rd floor - I recently was reminded of how long I spend sitting each day and this desk is the perfect height for me to stand and work.

2:00pm. Still here, Working on PHYS 3362: Intermediate Electromagnetism. Our first midterm is in 10 days (?), so I needed to 1. finish the HW for this week and 2. prep for the midterm.

Here's a view from the steps of VP library.

3:00pm. Went to CVS to get some toothpaste cuz I just ran out.

3:15pm. MSE 2600: Thermodynamics. Here's a pic of my roommate Annabel!

5:15pm. I went to the Pottruck Gym! I don't go that regularly but I do like to attend the group ex classes sometimes.

7:00pm. Dinner w/ one of my good friends, Nishant. His room is directly across the hallway from mine so we hang out a lot (whenever we can).

8:00pm. Went downstairs to the Rodin basement to practice violin. I've been in Penn Symphony Orchestra my whole time at Penn and love it so much.

Another view of the basement practice room.

10:15pm - More HW at the Rodin Mezzanine.

And then I went to bed :) My class schedule varies greatly depending on the day, but this was a random Monday. Note: the class names listed here are not exactly what they are actually called - they are just the general topics covered in the class.

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