In our society today, there are issues with the cost of gas and the harm that the fumes cause to the environment. The technological advancements in transportation give solutions to these problems. Electric cars and buses have become the main solution to our harmful environment both physically and economically. The electric transportation methods are cheaper and less harmful towards the environment, and they give me hope that our economy and environment will be better in the future. It is hopeful that the need for gas goes down when the need for electric vehicles goes up, giving people like farmers less expensive access to diesel for their tractors and mowers. Diesel vehicles are still necessary in country areas, but there are more open spaces where these fumes do not stay trapped. Air in cities is confined and diesel vehicles create more harmful chemicals that hurt people. With electric vehicles, the air will be cleaner in more crowded city areas. By these technological advances becoming cheaper and easier to make, it will help working people have a mode of transportation that will be better for the environment. This technology is the path to the future, and I want to be a part of helping that become possible. I want to help advance these technologies that give my world a better chance. I enjoy seeing how things work and I love seeing technologies accomplish a task that they were made for that helps someone. These electric vehicles inspired me to join the engineering field because I love seeing my society technologically improve and I love seeing my world become healthier.

My favorite book is Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. I love this story because it illuminates the importance of inclusion, responsibility, and structure. Because Frankenstein’s monster did not have any of these, he became corrupt and vengeful, lashing out at people that his creator loved dearly. It is sad that Victor had to learn that he was the cause of his own demise by losing everyone he loved. However, even after he lost his family, he still blamed his creation and sought out revenge for his creation’s actions. Victor and his creation are very similar in the sense that they both blamed each other for the pain each of them feels. Although it truly was Victor’s fault, he never understood that he was the reason that his creation was both living and vengeful until he was on his death bed. He never looked any deeper into himself to question why his creation was lashing out in the first place. If he had stopped blaming the monster long enough to realize that he was not only the creator of a monstrous being, but the creator of the unhinged personality that came with it, he might have been able to save both himself and his family from pain and grief. Mary Shelley does a wonderful job at providing her characters with enough consequences for them to eventually understand that they are the cause of their demise. Her version of this novel forces her readers to sometimes stop and think about whether their actions will illuminate positive or negative consequences and whether they can change their course of action or not.

My creativity is most seen when challenges are thrown in my direction. I truly enjoy the STEM field because it allows me to turn the challenges I face, into puzzles that can more easily be solved. When I was in my junior year of high school, I joined a robotics team that built a robot and then competed against others to accomplish a series of tasks. We had two months to design, build, test, and operate our robot, but it was not running smoothly. My team would disagree on how we should build our robot, so I decided to turn this debacle into an opportunity to show my team that we work well together by telling them to take the best part of each of our robots and put them on one robot. We decided on each of the best things to incorporate into one robot and we finished in time to enter the competition. This was not the only challenge me and my team faced though. When we arrived at the competition, some parts of our robot were falling apart. I had to get creative about what I used to fix it because we had limited access to supplies. I managed to jerry-rig the robot and we placed fifth in the competition. When I use my creativity to solve problems, I rebuild the challenge into something that I can readily solve and successfully accomplish the task at hand.

As a young child, I wanted to graduate high school, go to college, get a well-paying job, a beautiful home, and a loving family. Those goals have not changed much. In fact, I have been working towards accomplishing those very goals at a higher level than what was originally expected of me. I graduated with honors during my junior year of high school, and I am moving on to the next chapter in my life. I want to go to college and graduate with my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering then further my education by receiving my master’s degree in robotics and mechatronics. I want to achieve this at a higher level than expected so I may be rewarded with a high sense of accomplishment. I want to continue bettering myself by pursuing a job where I can build robots that will improve my society. I hope to accomplish these goals and perhaps gain a few more goals in the process to continue to be the best that I can be.

My dad always tells me, “Nothing happens to you, everything happens for you.” I never truly understood what that meant until now. Every event, good or bad, that has happened leading up until now has taught me a lesson. When I lost a family member, it taught me that life is precious, and I need to cherish the moments I still have with the ones I love. Losing a family member happened for me to understand the true worth of life and helped me understand that I cannot take advantage of it. Even moments that are purely wonderful, they happened for me. Every time I got to travel anywhere with my family, I got to enjoy the time I spent with them. There were times when I was not happy with my family, but I realized that even with the downsides, I prefer to be with them more than anything else. Throughout all the events that happened, I learned a specific lesson that had to be experienced to be understood. The words to and for are so small, yet they make all the difference. My dad did not share his wise words with me for me just to understand them, but to also live by them. Nothing will ever happen to me, but everything will happen for me. Having that kind of perspective on life will help me to learn and grow in more ways than one can imagine.

During my junior year of high school, I joined the Scientific Research and Design class. In that class, we built robots that we took to competitions. At the time, I did not know anyone in there because I was new to the school, but I quickly became a very important part of my team. Being the only girl in the predominately male class, it was a challenge to get my team to respect me. I still tried every day to prove to them that I knew what I was doing and that I was not going to sit around and let them do all the work. I slowly pushed myself into the team more and more until eventually, I was not only the lead designer of our robot, but also the lead builder and driver. I was only able to do this through persistence. I continued to work on the team’s robot, even when I was not in the class. I took our robot home, and worked at home, and I even took it to other classes so I could continue to improve it. When my team saw how persistent I had become, they showed me the respect I deserved. They finally understood how committed I was to the class and to the competitions, and they respected my leadership. Because of my persistence, I was able to overcome being an outsider, and I became one of the most important members of my team.