There is no doubt in my mind that Civil engineering is the most important type of engineering. To me, it represents more than just bridges, dams, and other infrastructure. It represents the backbone of society. Civil engineers build things that are often taken for granted by the public, but without them, society just wouldn’t be able to function properly. It is important that civil engineers are careful in their work, and that they take the utmost care in what they do. If they don’t then structures will start to fail, and lives may be lost. This type of work should be taken extremely seriously and I aspire to be the kind of person that can handle this type of responsibility someday. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an engineer. I have always loved building things and trying to figure things out. By my junior year in high school, I had already taken all of the engineering classes offered at my high school. Without any other engineering options, I decided to be a TA for the engineering teacher at my school. Little did I know that this would be one of the best opportunities I ever had received. Through this, I was able to use all sorts of tools and work on projects that I had never done before. The main project I worked on was a set of decorative wooden wings to be placed on the wall of the commons in the school. I made these wings from start to finish, by designing, editing, laser cutting, painting, staining and finally gluing. During every step of the process, I learned something new and developed new skills. It was the highlight of my year. I took these skills with me the next year when I joined the robotics club and used these skills to help out the team in various ways, whether it was using the laser cutter to make new parts or designing them in CAD. My passion for Civil Engineering came along when I was downtown in a large city. I was driving around this parking garage and I noticed that It seemed to go around in circles. There wasn’t a very large slope, so there was a bit of an illusion that made the garage seem like it was a lot smaller than it was. I think about this garage a lot. I think often about the amount of design and the amount of innovation and critical thinking that a project like that would take. To make something so well designed out of concrete is pretty magical to me. To be able to maximize space when building in the downtown area of a large city is something only a Civil Engineer and that idea is what made me want to be one. I want to be able to build something that can serve a purpose to people and make people’s lives easier. I want to make things that are so convenient for people to use that they don’t even have to think about them. I want to design things that instill a sense of wonder like the parking garage instilled in me when I drove around it for the very first time. I have encountered a few setbacks in my schooling, with the main one being my campaign for ASB President in my high school. I spent a lot of time running and campaigning, but in the end, I came up in second place. This was a pretty devastating blow to me because I was hoping to win. But I didn’t let the loss deter me, in fact, I used it as fuel and motivation to improve myself and try again. Later in the year, I ran for the Class President position and I ended up winning. I remind myself of this whenever I face a setback in my life, whether it be academically, athletically, or personally. I find out what I did wrong, and fix and improve for the next opportunity. I don’t back down or quit, that’s just not the kind of person that I am. I work harder and get better. This quality will help me overcome the struggles I will most definitely face on my way to becoming a Civil Engineer and will help me in all aspects of my life. Thank you for considering my application for this scholarship, and thank you for taking the time to read it.