What does leadership look like when it arrives — even in your first year of university? In this inspiring episode of Better Student Leaders, we meet Mariefinah Pollen Marcuelo, a first-year engineering student at the University of Auckland, whose experience in a recent leadership workshop sparked a powerful idea: to revive the Women in Engineering Podcast and give voice to women in a male-dominated field.

Mariefinah shares how learning to measure progress changed how she sets goals:

“If you measure something, you get dopamine from it. Measuring becomes your motivation system.”

But beyond strategy, her story is about courage. When asked what scares her most, she admits:

“It’s scary because I’m talking to people who’ve succeeded — and sometimes I think, why am I important? But fear just means I’m stepping into courage.”

With support from her partner and the Women in Engineering faculty, Mariefinah is proving that leadership isn’t about titles or age — it’s about action. As she puts it,

“Leaving this opportunity behind would be like turning a blind eye to something big. I just can’t.”

If you’re passionate about student leadership, representation, and building confidence in the next generation of women engineers, connect with Mariefinah Pollen Marcuelo on LinkedIn and follow her journey as she brings this empowering project to life.