It’s time for a bit more personal blog post. This is going
to be fun! Growing up with an older brother, I can look back on countless times
which he influenced me (intentionally or not) to be cool and perhaps more of a
tomboy. From liking spicy food and playing Halo 3 to building with LEGOS and
being competitively athletic, my brother has influenced my life in many ways.
Additionally, my father is an engineer and my mother a math teacher. Things
were set up in my childhood for me to enter a STEM field, or at least be very
interested in such things.
However, in high school I was determined to be a
veterinarian. I started volunteering with animals, but also attending biology,
science, and engineering camps and internships. Unsure of my career path, I applied
to six different universities for six different majors (biological sciences,
biomedical engineering, bioengineering, zoology, biology, and something else). When
I got into University of Illinois for bioengineering, I kind of just went along
with it because it was such an excellent program. I realized that there are
infinite applications for bioengineering as a major, and I would be able to
attain any of my goals with this degree.
Immediately, I got involved in various engineering organizations
and began to feel like I was part of somewhere I belonged. Only in the past few
years have I discovered my interests in prosthetics and orthotics. I am now
seeking out that career – which will mean I’m not technically going to be
working as an engineer. However, the way I see it, I’ll always be an engineer
after making it through engineering at Illinois. I’ve seen my mindset for
problem solving morph in the past three years. I have always had an artsy side,
but engineering has enabled me to bring my dreams to life.
Summer of 2011: At Packer Engineering, I investigated harvesting energy from plants.
I also built a pedal tractor pull to donate to the DuPage County Fair!
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