Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? 

 

Applying for the Future

 

Soccer has always been a big part of my life from as long as I can remember. Whether it was me out on the field, me on the sideline watching my father, or sitting at home on the couch watching the world cup. I remember as I watched my father or the world cup I would make mental notes of skills to use in my own game in order to solve the problem of, people in my way of the goal. Just like the way you learn skills in an engineering class to solve a problem. I have had a peak interest in being a problem solver and improving myself in areas that interest me.

Engineering has been of interest for quite some time now. My father is a retired Colonel and electrical engineer for the Air Force. Whenever I asked, he would tell me stories of what kind of things he worked on and problems he solved in order to develop aircraft for the Air Force. These stories really helped me get an idea of how to effectively solve problems in engineering and I soon discovered, the things I learned from them could be applied to solve any problem. In order to solve a problem all you have to do is apply yourself and have the right mindset and motivation to go through with something.

Since about 7th grade I have tried to look at things of interest with a “how can I make this better” attitude. I thought to myself if I think like this and put this into effect, then what’s stopping me from becoming an engineer? Turns out there was a lot stopping me. For the longest time I didn’t really understand math. I discovered that to be a successful engineer you need to be good at math. In-between each school year I would practice my math skills to make sure I didn’t forget important skills I needed. I also did some tutoring after school hours, and to help myself I really started focusing more on math and trying to understand.

There Is a certain way one will go about things when they are truly interested, and it’s quite easy to tell. I figured this out by simply thinking about myself. When I am uninterested in something I don’t tend to want to make it better or apply my attitude to it, but if I am interested in it or I need to be good at for an interest, then I apply my “make this better” attitude so that I can achieve a goal I have set for myself. The way I see it, if I can apply that attitude to anything required to become an engineer, I shouldn’t have a single problem in becoming a successful engineer, and I do apply that attitude because I really am interested in making the future a better place.

I often think a great amount about the future, and I can’t wait to graduate high school and find a good college to take plenty of engineering classes at. Engineers are the future. They are inventing, fixing, brainstorming, and problem solving to make the world better, safer, and more easy, and I intend to be a part of the group making the world better.

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