A crisis that has been muttered about for decades. A crisis that has been argued about, questioned and degraded. A crisis that has grown exponentially intimidating in an infinitesimal period. There is nothing that has superseded the way I think and driven my actions more than our impending climate crisis. As a young man who takes our climate deterioration seriously, I am fortunate enough to have found a field of study that grants me the privilege to learn how I can help save our planet. But, to even approach the various technological methods in combating climate change, basic and advanced concepts of calculus are a necessity! It is no doubt that aircraft, spacecraft, cars, and other vehicles are big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the job of our society's scientists and engineers to design systems that are more efficient and environmentally sustainable. As a future aerospace engineer, I will be doing just that. After graduating from Arizona State University in 2024, I intend on working for NASA to help foster and improve the Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan, SRIP. This is NASA’s way of furthering its missions and projects without compromising the health of our planet, and I can’t help but long to be a part of it. But according to a NASA-published fact sheet, a critical education requirement for an aerospace engineer career consists of calculus. The first time I learned the importance of calculus was when I was going into college and learned that all NASA engineers have background knowledge in calculus. I was both excited and intimidated when enrolling in my first calculus class during my freshmen year at ASU. After all, I heard many rumors about the difficulty of calculus from all of my teachers in Highschool, so the nerves were warranted. On the other hand, I was excited, because although NASA stated that calculus was an important topic for all of their engineers to know, I was still oblivious as to why this was such a crucial base to an engineer's career. It was not long before my curiosity about calculus was satisfied. After completing 3 semesters of various levels of calculus, I finally realized why NASA said calculus was crucial for their engineers. I learned in just my first semester of calculus the concept of rate of change, differentiation, and integration. It was not long before I realized the extensive real-world applicability of these basic calculus concepts. Ever since I finished all of my calculus courses, I continue to use calculus in every single one of my other classes. A few classes for an aerospace engineer that I found a common use for calculus in are all of my physics, dynamics, and mechanics courses. After completing calculus I will always see calculus in every class that I take in my education future. My passion for our planet mixed with my skills of excelling in math and science has shaped my career and academic goals to one day be a lead aeronautical engineer for NASA. The thought of attempting to work for NASA, which is one of the largest aerospace associations in the world, is becoming increasingly intimidating as I get further into my education. However, the thought that I know about such a crucial topic, like calculus, in NASA engineering, and the STEM world in general, is very reassuring. It's an even greater feeling to know that I can one day contribute to healing or planet because I have the knowledge of calculus.

A crisis that has been muttered about for decades. A crisis that has been argued about, questioned and degraded. A crisis that has grown exponentially intimidating in an infinitesimal period. There is nothing that has superseded the way I think and driven my actions more than our impending climate crisis. As a young man who takes our climate deterioration seriously, I am fortunate enough to have found a field of study that grants me the privilege to learn how I can help save our planet. It is no doubt that aircraft, spacecraft, cars, and other vehicles are big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the job of our society's scientists and engineers to design systems that are more efficient and environmentally sustainable. As a future aerospace engineer, I will be doing just that. After graduating from Arizona State University in 2024, I intend on working for NASA to help foster and improve the Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan, SRIP. This is NASA’s way of furthering its missions and projects without compromising the health of our planet, and I can’t help but long to be a part of it. There have been many advancements in fully carbon-neutral aircraft and several test flights that have been groundbreaking in the field of sustainability. I am excited to one day piggyback off of these sustainable practices to make these aircraft affordable and convenient. If I can implement these carbon-neutral planes in all airlines and help impose aeronautical vehicle regulations, we can reduce output greenhouse gas emissions by upwards of 9%. This gas reduction can make a significant impact on our world's fight against climate change. My passion for our planet mixed with my skills of excelling in math and science has shaped my career and academic goals to one day be a lead aeronautical engineer. Once I have the financial capability, I intend on balancing my school work with a technology-based internship to begin networking for my future and gain helpful real-world experience. The thought of attempting to work for NASA, which is one of the largest aerospace associations in the world, is becoming increasingly intimidating as I get further into my education. However, when I feel like the world is stacked against me, I remind myself that actions driven by passion will always trump actions fueled by greed. With this mindset, I believe that I will become an important figure in our growing technological world!