Dan Mueller
Involvement
Inspired by my childhood dream to design roller coasters, TPEG was the student organization I was most eager to join before even arriving at OSU. I quickly got involved in projects, social events, and learning more about the themed entertainment industry. And before I knew it, I was traveling to conferences (SKYnext, IAAPA Expo, ASTM F24, FREDx), setting up construction tours, and developing TPEG's very own conference, SITE OSU.
What I initially thought would mostly serve as a fun way to decompress turned into an incredible professional development opportunity that extends far beyond the theme park world.
Inspired by my new role as Industry Chair in TPEG and my recent conference travel, I formed a team to plan and host the inaugural Students in Themed Entertainment conference, SITE OSU. The purpose behind SITE was to make networking more accessible for students in the Midwest and Northeast and to encourage communication between fellow themed entertainment students groups across the country.
Getting it off the ground and establishing the event's credibility proved difficult - after all, we're just students. However, the inaugural event was a huge success, and I was eager to make the second year even bigger and better! We were able to increase attendees from 80 to 120 and expand content from 2 to 3 days.
To learn more about SITE, visit https://www.tpegosu.com/site or contact me directly!
Between the 2019 and 2020 conferences, we have featured professionals from:
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Walt Disney World
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Universal Studios / Universal Creative
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SeaWorld
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Cedar Point
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The Gravity Group
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Skyline Attractions
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Animax Designs
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And More!
BuckeyeThon
Each year in college, I have participated in the 12-hour Dance Marathon known as BuckeyeThon, taking a stand for those who can't. With my involvement, I have raised over $750 to benefit kids with pediatric cancer in partnership with Nationwide Children's Hospital. For The Kids!
Engineers Without Borders
Eager to use my knowledge to help others and to practice my studies outside of class, I joined Ohio State's student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, where we have a five-year partnership with the Njau community in The Gambia (part of West Africa). Our goal is to assist the community by providing sustainable solutions to problems they would like addressed, namely a long dry season and animals eating their crops.
I started off contributing to an alternative analysis document for proposed fence designs, which were constructed in 2018. Then my role shifted to helping the structural assessment team analyze failure modes for a water tower being constructed as a part of an irrigation system to extend their growing season. Lastly, I developed a MATLAB script which can calculate concrete moment for the water tower foundation. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to travel, but I am glad to have been able to support the community from afar.
St. Thomas More Newman Center
Ever since I first came to college, I made it a point to go to church every Sunday and continue my faith life throughout college. My involvement started with a reluctant yes to a Bible study I was invited to join at the beginning of sophomore year, then increased as I became a Eucharistic Minister. Plus, after I finally went on the Buckeye Awakening retreat, I started going to more community events.
Most recently, I've served on staff for the past two Buckeye Awakening retreats, once as a "table parent" and once on worship staff. As a table parent, I led small group discussions with my "retreat family" and guided them through the weekend-long experience as they encountered and reflected upon different aspects of their faith life. For the next retreat, I was a vocalist on worship staff, helping lead praise&worship songs for the retreat. This is something I never thought I'd do considering I dislike singing in front of others, but it was a transformative experience to go outside of my comfort zone to serve.
SUSTAINS Learning Community
My first two years of college, I was part of SUSTAINS, short for Students Understanding Sustainability and Taking Action to Improve Nature and Society. That's a mouthful that essentially means I lived with a bunch of students who share an interest in sustainability and took an additional class, volunteered, worked on projects, heard from guest speakers, and took professional development trips.
Alongside my Resident Advisor (RA) position sophomore year, I became one of the community advisors for SUSTAINS, where I helped plan events and guide newer members. Beyond the professional development, a major takeaway is that sustainability can be applied to any major and any situation in addition to the environmental connotation the idea is often linked to.
