Entry Essay for Engineering Program at Texas A&M

My acceptance into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program became one of my greatest experiences at North County High School. Throughout my STEM classes, I had learned to think more critically and creatively. STEM required us to collaborate to solve problems. This collaboration taught me proper communication and strong leadership skills which I utilized effectively during summer bridge projects and the community challenge projects that we did each year. One of the most significant community challenge projects that I did with a partner was design and print, using a 3-D printer provided from my school to create a cookie cutting prototype that helped modernize the production of cookies for a local bakery owner. Through

I bolted through the clear door of a small, earth-colored high school, practically slamming the door behind me. Catching my breath, I stood in the school completely drenched and shivering. Rain pounded on the clear door behind me. I stood awkwardly on a mat in front of the doorway, trying not to get the floor wet. I gazed around the hall in front of me. I couldn’t see staff in the office, nor were any students in the hallway or in the classrooms. The entire school was empty.

For me, the largest draw to joining the Engineering Honors Program is being able to work with and get to know my professors on a level that I wouldn't be able to in a larger classroom setting. In a large classroom setting, I don't see myself getting many opportunities to interact with my professors outside of office hours, which I still absolutely plan to take advantage of, but being in smaller classes would allow me, and the class as a whole, to have more time to ask our professors questions. On the subject of the other students, I believe that being in honors classes will give me the opportunity to interact with some of the smartest people in my graduating class, and I look forward to participating in that smaller and closer-knit group.

Growing up in a small fishing town afforded me the opportunity to see water in a far different perspective than most. Our waterways acted as food source and livelihood while providing a venue for recreation and aesthetic enjoyment. Because of this, a deep respect for water and environment gripped me at an early age. My fascination with water continued to flourish as I grew and watched my hometown battle both natural and man-made disasters. I actively participated in coastal recovery efforts after many hurricanes and even the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Truly sobering moments come when one is standing center-stage of a disaster realizing how something as seemingly endless as water becomes so quickly scarce. These firsthand experiences piqued my initial interest in water resources and conservation sparking many questions about spatio-temporal patterns in the realm of ecosystem services. These personal factors were a major influence on my decision to apply for enrollment in the Earth Sciences Department at the

A&M is the state's first open foundation of advanced education. With an understudy collection of more than 59,000 and more than 5,200 sections of land on the College Station grounds, Texas A&M is additionally among the country's biggest colleges. Our roots, in any case, are much humbler: we owe our presence to the Morrill Act, endorsed by the United States Congress on July 2, 1862. This demonstration given to gift of open area to the states with the end goal of subsidizing advanced education whose "driving article should be, without barring other exploratory and traditional studies, and including military strategies, to instruct such branches of learning as are identified with horticulture and workman expressions."

If the patient was sick as a child or had a family member that terminally ill.

Texas A&M is my home. I am 44 years old and I have been a full-time employee of Texas A&M University for almost 10 years. Although it has taken me a long time to get to the academic level that I am now at, I have never given up. Even though, they encouraged me every step of the way I was not guided very well academically by my parents. Neither of them attended college, so they were unable to provide advice. Now that I have gained the knowledge and know what I want, I will continue to work hard on my academic journey until it is complete.

My education and work experience have been great preparation for a career in this field. Engineering, by nature, requires strong analytical and problem solving skills. Even outside the classroom, I have learned to look at a situation and break it down systematically. Sometimes when a direct solution is not possible, an optimal alternative or repurpose is appropriate. For example, I worked

SkillsUSA and National Technical Honor Society are both prestigious organizations that I am proud to be a part of at this moment in my life. I would encourage anyone to strive to be a part of both distinguished organizations. SkillsUSA and National Technical Honor Society have allowed me to consider the excellence of a career and technical education, both organizations have made significant contributions in my life thus far and being involved in both organizations have enhanced my personal/professional development.

If I was unsure about my pursuit of engineering before I came to A&M, I was completely convinced I made the right decision to become an engineer after taking chemistry with Dr. Tak Leung. He often related his personal research to the topics he was teaching. This professor solidified my interest in engineering and research. He spoke about his humorously failed experiments and the impressively successful ones that led to several patents, which persuaded me to want to go above and beyond to learn and improve on complex engineering problems or even the most basic things.

There are many different kinds of diplomas offered but how important are they? There is Academic honor, technical honors, and the Core 40. I feel that the diploma you strive for or end up receiving is very important, but not everyone can get an honors diploma so does that mean we will not get into a good college or have as good as options with only a Core 40.

I believe that mattering does play a role in our life, regardless of our profession; and we have to realize that we matter. As a student, to have the motivation to get good grades, I need to realize first that I am, and will continue to be a contributing member to the well-being of the society and the country. Personally, I chose to study Engineering because I have always believed that I can utilize my creativity and ingenuity in shaping ideas and implementing

Time and time again, I find myself sitting, thinking, and letting my mind wander wherever it takes me. In the most intricate trails of thought, I am able to bend time. My thought processes carry me into new grounds–uncharted territories–that in no way, shape or form represent the mechanical ticking of a clock. What is felt to be hours of deep concentration about inventions, ideas and far-away places that–in reality–consumed just a few brief minutes.

Finding out how and why things work and discovering how products are made has always my passion. I regularly watch engineering and science shows on the television. From my childhood, I have always been a very curious person who would not believe just because someone told me, but I had to know the reason behind it. Science always fascinated me, and I always wondered how we remained on the ground and never fell off something that is spherical. In school I was more interested in maths and science rather than History or Arts and this made me choose Chemistry, maths and physics as my Higher subjects. This has helped me appreciate how Science has been utilised to improve man’s life and make it easier. It is because of this that I would like to

A couple of design projects had heavy influence on how I viewed engineering. One of these occurred in my third quarter of physics. The other project occurred in my informatics class. For my physics project, I worked in a team to reaffirming a scientific principle that a ball swings back and forth on a cycloid curve at a consistent frequency. Over the course of the project, I would lose half the manpower I originally began with. When my lack of manpower is added to the difficulty of engineering a method to record data, I worked straight through nights. While the ordeal would cost me portions of my overall health, I developed an appeal to engineering. I learned of the tradeoff to using certain methods and used the limited amounts of math and science I had at the time to decide on approaches.