Industrial engineering student, Navy ROTC member and children’s book author are just a few of the hats Arianna Vesey wears. After an action-packed summer, she is ready to take on her sophomore year at MSOE and apply the new skills she learned.

Vesey spent her summer in Navy ROTC training where she learned about aviation, aircraft carriers, submarines and the Marines. This was her first summer in training, which she explained was like a giant job shadow. “This allowed me to experience the four main branches of the Navy and get a glimpse of what life will be like in the future.”

Vesey’s mom, an MSOE alumna, also went through the ROTC training during her time at MSOE and recommended the program. “Many members of my family have served in the military, and I’ve seen and heard how their experiences have helped them grow in leadership and character,” said Vesey. “I am joining the military to have that same opportunity to grow and apply that experience to whatever job I work in the civilian world.” She also values the scholarship that ROTC provides, which will help her get through school and achieve her goal of becoming a doctor.

Thanks to her experience at MSOE, Vesey felt prepared to take on the challenges of ROTC training. “MSOE is a difficult school with challenging classes. My educational experience at MSOE helps me with my Navy training just by helping me learn to have grit and persevere even when things are tough.”

In her spare time during training, Vesey published her first children’s book on Amazon. Her book, A Bëeg-BAhD Day, is a comedic fairy tale rewrite that pulls together five of the most popular wolf tales into one captivating story. In the story, the Bëeg-BAhD wolf family moved to the Fictional Forest for a fresh start. Although they weren’t exactly greeted with open arms by the townspeople and in light of many intimidating wolf stereotypes, the Bëeg-BAhDs did their best to fit in while pushing toward their ultimate goal: graduation.

The book’s title is a play on the big bad wolf from classic fairy tales like The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. “I wanted to reframe the idea of the big bad wolf and show that there’s more to the story than the one we’ve always been told,” said Vesey.

Vesey wrote the book for a high school fiction writing class and was encouraged to publish it by her teacher at the time. Her goal was to put a twist on a fairytale. “I centralized the idea on wolves because I believe they were some of the coolest and misunderstood fairy tale creatures,” explained Vesey. “I hope readers are left with a heightened awareness of the danger of stereotypes. In the story, the townspeople judge the wolf family even before they get to know them, overlooking their skills, talents and sacrifices.” Learn more or purchase the book on Amazon.

At MSOE, Vesey is entering her sophomore year as an industrial engineering major. Both of her parents went to MSOE, so it was a familiar option when deciding where to go to college. She enjoys the people aspect of industrial engineering. “As someone striving to become a psychiatrist, I felt like it was important to have a people-oriented degree,” she said. She also enjoys the little touches around campus that make MSOE so special. “This is such a small part, but I love the gift-wrapping station that’s at the Campus Center before winter break.”