When I was 11 years old, my cousin introduced me to longboarding. Although similar to skateboarding, longboarding is more focused on cruising rather than tricks. This was perfect for me, since I was a beginner and the board was much easier to learn on. Together we would cruise around the neighborhood and enjoy the fresh air. One day my cousin suggested we ride down one of the big long hills. “It’s scary but I think you can do it,” he assured me. As I began my way down, I started accelerating faster than I had ever gone before. It was only a few moments later when the board began violently shaking and I was thrown off the board as my body scraped against the pavement. Getting “road rash” was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. Today, 7 years later, I still have the scar left on my arm. But this isn’t just a story about a traumatic experience, this is about how I overcame the mental block associated with the hobby that I enjoy the most. Following my injury, I was seriously anxious about the thought of riding again. However, when I started college this past fall, I saw dozens of people riding around campus on longboards and I started to remember how much fun I used to have riding with my cousin. After weeks of contemplating, I finally decided to try and get back into it. Admittedly, it was a struggle having to relearn how to balance and push. After about a week of practicing on empty sidewalks, I started riding my board to my classes. Not only was I having fun, but it turned a 15 minute walk to class to a 5 minute ride on my longboard. One of the biggest benefits is the euphoria I experience whenever I find some spare time between classes, homework, club meetings, and my job. I love cruising around the massive campus and through the local parks. Longboarding has also helped connect me with friends that also enjoy longboarding as a hobby. The benefits longboarding has brought to my life go on and on. Overall, getting back into longboarding years after my injury has been an incredibly rewarding experience that has helped me in all aspects of my life. It helped teach me the valuable lesson of overcoming fears and the beautiful things that are hidden behind them. Although I still fall off my board every once in a while, I acknowledge that it's one of the dangers that comes with longboarding. These dangers have helped teach me to create boundaries to prevent me from putting myself in dangerous situations (like going down big hills). They have also taught me how to recover from my mistakes, becoming a better longboarder after each one. In the end, longboarding has become my favorite hobby and I’m very grateful for all of the experiences it has given me, helping me become a more well-rounded person outside of my professional life.

One new technology that I am excited to see develop is Neuralink. While there are obviously many valid questions about this new technology and the ethics involved, I believe that any technology related to the brain and how it operates is going to be revolutionary. The human brain is still one of the most complicated biological creations known to mankind and Neuralink may be able to provide further insight into exactly how the brain functions. It may even be able to address chronic conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and paralysis. The potential benefits alone make this technology worth pursuing. Neuralink has already been successfully tested in monkey and pigs and they will soon be conducting their first human trials in upcoming years pending government approval. Video shows a monkey controlling a computer game using his electrical inputs from his brain signals alone after some initial training. Neuralink also demonstrated that the chip could be safely removed without noticeable impact on the health of the pigs. The company has clearly been fully committed to creating a safe product and will be using robotics to conduct the surgery to implement the chip. Disease's and accidents that damage neurons in the brain are currently impossible to fix. Neuralink will have the incredible ability of bridging the gap between damaged and functional neurons in order to deliver the electrical signals necessary for ordinary tasks. While it is still unsure as to whether or not it is possible, Elon Musk (owner of Neuralink) is highly optomistic that Neuralink could give people who have suffered from paralysis the ability to walk again. Such an opportunity is undoubtly exciting and should be properly recognized. All in all, Neuralink is by far the most interesting new piece of technology in development as of right now and I am hopeful that this technology will be able to deliver in ways beyond imagination without compromising the health and safety of patients.

An experience I had that made me worry for the future of humanity was drinking gross tap water. Now I am an enthusiastic water drinker and nothing uplifts me more than a nice glass of water. The problem is, I won't be able to continue my traditional water drinking habits unless people stop throwing their garbage into our rivers. Water pollution poisons nearly half of rivers and roughly 1/3 of lakes in the U.S. according to the EPA, making me deeply concerned for humanity's future. I find it extremely important that we make this issue known to the general public so that I (and the many other H2O enjoyers) do not have to resort to going back to Coca-Cola and other sugarery syrups disguised as beverages. Such a doomsday scenario would lead to the ultimate demise of this nation. In order to combat this issue, I suggest a few solutions: extract ideas from other university students, policy and budget reform, and stop throwing garbage into the water. For example, in my first semester as a Engineering student I was tasked to develop a solution for recycling paper towels. This same principle can be applied to solving the water pollution issue. There are millions of young engineering students desperate to develop some problem-solving skills and what better way to teach them than to give them a real-world problem that could save humanity. Alternatively, we could use the more traditional methods of legislation as I believe American politicians would love to do some greater good for society and come up with comprehensive, bipartisan legislation with the sole purpose of preventing water pollution. After all, if the COVID-19 pandemic has proved anything, it is that American politicians are the most cooperative people in the world when it comes to writing new legislation involving public health. Most importantly, we should simply stop trashing the water supply. Whether we must add more signs or pay people to catch polluters in the act, there must be a way to convince people that oil and plastic does not belong in the river. All in all, I hope that this essay demonstrates the importance of cleaning up our water supply. I hope that no one ever has to experience the awful taste of dirty tap water. I would hate for somebody to get cancer, or even worse, choose to drink Pepsi as a result of a dirty water supply. Lastly, I should acknowledge the fact that clean water is a great privilege that not every country has abundant access to and I find it equally important to address this inequality so that everyone can enjoy the refreshing taste of fresh, clean water.