Olivet Nazarene University

Date: Apr 18 2015
Major: Mechanical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
I am a Senior Mechanical Engineering major with a Business minor. I have attended ONU for all four years and will be graduating in less than three weeks.

Because I am an Engineering major I will speak for the Engineering Department. I chose Olivet because I did not want to be a number in a list of a hundred students in a general engineering class. At ONU there is a small faculty to student ratio and that is a real thing. Very rarely did I have a class that had more than 40 students in it and it was usually a general education requirement not a major required class. All of my professors know me by name and will call me out if I miss class. They have been very influential as I begin my engineering career and have written recommendation letters, helped me think through interview questions, and pushed me to be the best engineer I can be.

Now, I do recognize that there a plenty of students who get to Olivet and do not like it. I was one of those students for the first semester. There are plenty of rules that they do follow and fines that they will enforce. Honestly, I think that the reason many students do not like it when they come here is they think that Olivet is another Christian school who says all of these things that they do to be a Christian school but never back it up. At Olivet, they do back up what they tell you. Read the fine print. There are dress code rules and times when you are supposed to be back in your dorm. However, if students get here and do not know the rules, they will be surprised like I was.

After a while though, I realized how thankful I was for these rules. As someone who does not drink, I was thankful that Olivet is 100% committed to keeping our campus drug, alcohol, and tobacco free. This is NOT the school to come to if you want to party and get high. They also do not believe in pre-marital sex. If you do not like it, then do not come here. Not because I do not thing that this would be a great environment for everyone, but if it is not what you want in a school, then there are plenty of other great schools to attend. I think that Olivet does a relatively good job at practicing what they preach. I am not saying that they are perfect or that there are not things that I wish I could change, but overall I believe that they are doing what they think is best for students who are still figuring out who they are outside of their family circle.

At Olivet I found community and friendships that I hope last a lifetime. If that is what you are looking for and what you want in a school, then this is a school you should look at. While I may have complained a bit at first, I can honestly say that I am thankful that I attended Olivet for the past four years.

And to back my statements up, my two younger siblings are also attending this school on their own decision as engineering students. And as for credibility, I will be working as an Engineer at Ford Motor Company after graduation. Olivet really does prepare you for life after college with an education and an experience that will carry you for a lifetime.