Think about it! You can't. The observable universe is 93 billion light-years wide—a distance the human brain cannot perceive nor imagine. The idea that we, mankind, can spend the rest of our time as a species on Earth is both foolish and unreasonable. This idea is what inspires me to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering, not because I believe that life on Earth is infinitely sustainable, but because I know that our expansion and growth as a species relies on greater space exploration and colonization. While I hold little interest in becoming an astronaut and exploring space myself, I wish to help facilitate the space exploration that takes place during my lifetime to the best of my ability. Through global warming and climate change, among other problems surrounding our extended stay on our home planet, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to place greater importance on space exploration in the coming years. With contemporary research displaying severe potential future consequences, the time mankind has left on Earth only seems to decrease. Outside of this core motivation, I also find interest in the STEM field because I have always enjoyed solving problems, often with unique and innovative solutions, and a job in the engineering field allows me to do just that. As the captain of my school's robotics team, I have experience dealing with a significant amount of problems from an engineering standpoint, as we have had numerous problems every school year participating in our state's First Tech Challenge robotics competition. Often lots of problems are met with complaints and excuses from others, but I like to meet problems with solutions. I aspire to be one of the engineers responsible for sending men to the moon to stay, sending a probe to Mars, or even the next major telescope into orbit. By helping to achieve any of the monumental achievements listed above, I can leave a lasting impact on not only the world but on all of humankind, present and future. Working for NASA or another space agency such as SpaceX or Blue Origin is a realistic and long-standing dream of mine that I am determined and willing to put in the work to achieve. For my next step, I intend to attend a great college where I can earn at least a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering before applying for a job at NASA and working my way up the ladder as an aerospace engineer.