My name is Erynn and I am 18 years old. I am from Philadelphia, PA. I plan to go to college at Michigan State University in the fall of 2023. I want to major in business management. I chose this career path because I want to be my own boss. To be in this field you need strong leadership skills. I am sure that I have what it takes to pursue this career path. I am passionate about my work ethic. Having strong work ethic is important to me because it helps achieve your goals and succeed in your career. It also shows your reliability, responsibility and dedication to your career. Being reliable is important because it shows that you are trustworthy and dependable. It helps build strong relationships with others. You can be successful in both your personal and professional life. Being responsible is important because it shows that you can take accountability for your actions. It helps build trust and respect with others. Being dedicated is important because it shows that you are committed to achieving your goals and completing tasks to the best of your ability. It helps you endure challenges and overcome obstacles. These are good character traits to have if you passionate about getting wealthy and your hard work. Delayed gratification also plays a big part in your work ethic as well. It is important because it teaches us patience and discipline when reaching our goals. It helps us focus and prioritize our long-term objectives over the short-term goals. It allows us to develop skills and habits necessary for long lasting success. The number one rule for me when I am applying my work ethic skills to things is to always have a positive attitude. It helps me approach difficulties with optimism and resilience. It helps us contain and maintain a healthy perspective on life. With being positive you can find joy and fulfillment in your daily experiences. Being so passionate with my work ethic skills and abilities has grant me many opportunities, that’s why I live by it. Being in business management would be a good position for me to apply that responsibility role since I like organizing, planning, controlling and leading. Having that reliability skill is also important too because a business will not thrive without something or someone to help build it. Managing anything especially a business as a whole is a challenge that I am willing to take with pride.
When choosing my major, the only thing that came to mind was, does it make me happy? And do I see myself doing it for the rest of my life? With those two critical questions, the simple answer was yes, it does, but why? Michelle Obama once said, “I think that to be successful, women have to figure out what they’re passionate about first. No matter what you aspire to, you’ve got to love what you do to be successful at it.”. For me, selecting my intended major was a journey of self-discovery fueled by a deep-seated passion and a series of life-changing inspirations.
I knew I wanted to help others from the early age of thirteen, but I didn’t know how. Growing up from the ages six to thirteen, I volunteered at an event called Warmth in Winter, where different homeless shelters and organizations came together and celebrated the holiday season with brunch, a party, and gifts. In 2018, when serving people, an eight-year-old girl approached my table and asked for assistance getting her meal. After I helped her get everything she wanted, she said, “Thank you for the food, and I hope I can help at this event like you, too.” From there, I was exposed to a world of wanting to give back, no matter its shape or form.
Since then, service to others has been my life's core value and passion. I've always sought opportunities to contribute to my community and make a positive difference. I thought about creating a non-profit organization to build one-story homes for those needing shelter. In addition to creating an organization that provided job opportunities and refuge for homeless people until they got back on their feet. During the summer of 2020, I worked during the pandemic to fundraise and find ways to help the community stay safe outside their homes. Now, I’m President of a non-profit club (Youth Inspiration, YIP) at my school.
However, not only has service been my life’s core value and passion, but so has design. As a kid, when baking in the kitchen with my uncle, design played a huge part in what our treats would look like. Along with that, it played a massive influence on my small business (Simone’s Sweets and Treats) and impacted whether I could make a sale or not. Furthermore, in 2018, when I began attending STEM school for middle school; design was essential to my everyday curriculum, especially in my Engineering class and Intro to Computer Design. When building bridges, coding robots, and editing videos, my passion for design started to emerge. From there, I attended STEM leadership academies, where I was able to show my interest and talent when designing my team's product to help fight climate change. In addition, I joined WRT ACE Design and Build team, where my talent showed even more when designing sports-related trash enclosures.
Moreover, civil engineering offered a unique platform to combine my passions for service and design. The ability to work on projects that have a direct and lasting impact on people's lives, such as improving access to clean water, building safe structures, and creating sustainable transportation networks, deeply resonated with my desire to serve and make a meaningful contribution to society. Along with being able to design a grand structure and being able to share it with the person beside me, my family, or even my future children. I am driven by the belief that civil engineering is not merely a career choice but a powerful means to leave a lasting impact on my community and possibly the world.
