I am passionate about engineering because I feel like it is an important job that can be really helpful in improving people’s lives and progressing our society as a whole. In addition to being an important job, I am also passionate about pursuing engineering because I enjoy making things and solving different kinds of problems. When I was younger, I used to enjoy making things out of Lego and K’nex. In addition to making what was on the instructions, I would also often come up with my own designs which would always get my imagination going. I feel like that is where I might have gotten my love for engineering and problem-solving. I grew up overseas in Russia as a missionary kid and lived there for the first thirteen years of my life. I was raised by parents who I look up to this day and from whom I learned a lot about life. Although I am not planning to become a missionary like my dad, just like him I want to help people in ways that I am able like making things for others to use. Because of how my parent's love for people is so contagious, I not only want to help people through my career, but also outside of it such as volunteering. I have volunteered so far in helping rebuild an English school in Russia, helping out at “Feed My Starving Children”, and this summer I am planning to go to Ukraine with some people from my church to help out with refugees and to help rebuild some houses from the bombings that have happened. Another big part of my life growing up was playing hockey. As in any other sport, playing on a team can teach you many valuable lessons about life. Through my experience of playing, I have learned about teamwork, working hard and never giving up on your goals in life. During my time playing I also learned how to deal with hardship, since during my career I got a concussion that took me out for almost a year. This concussion was really devastating, especially since I thought that I was doing well in improving my game and that I could have made the varsity team that year. However, through prayer and learning how to keep a positive attitude I was able to get through that time without being too sad and was able to enjoy what I had in life instead of what I could have had or don’t have.