Undergraduate / 'a good mechanic' - The Ohio State University admissions essay (engineering) [5]

I'm applying to the college of engineering, and advise is appreciated. Thanks.

Knowing a good mechanic is essential if you own your own car, but unfortunately not all of us can find a decent mechanic. It was shortly after my parents got me my first car when it started to have some problems, and rather then pay a mechanic that we have never been to before, I took it upon myself to fix it. Shortly after I fixed that problem, another problem came up, and after I fixed that one, another one came up. I ended up fixing most of the car, until one evening something happened, a noised had developed that sounded like my engine was going to tear itself apart. I was advised by my father that I should just buy a new car and be done with it, but I had put too much time into this car, I didn't want to give up now. The next day I purchased a manual that would show me how to take my entire car apart, and I began my project.

My project took me six months to finish, I had completely disassembled the motor and bought a few new parts as needed. My father decided that it wasn't a good idea for a first time mechanic, or a "noobie" to try and rebuild an automatic transmission, so we had it sent out. Even though I didn't get to take it apart I was keen to learn all aspects of it, and I did. I had read diagrams and articles during my project to help me understand how everything worked, it was fascinating. I was in awe that people had designed something as complicated as an automatic transmission.

Sleep didn't come easy during my project, I found myself thinking of ways to make my car run more efficiently and ways to waste less energy. It was sometime when I was reading about different designs for internal combustion engines, that I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I want to build cars, I want to build cars that wont hurt our environment, cars that are easier to make, and most importantly, cars that are a blast to drive.

I was ecstatic to know that this is going to be my career, that I have finally discovered something that I would wake up early every morning to work on. I have been enrolled in a local community college, and when I first started I lacked direction and decided that I should take time off of school and try to figure out what my major should be. I started working full time for a wood shop cleaning up and maintaining tools, and after a few months I knew that I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life, I also knew that a higher education was my ticket to better things. Even though I had given myself more motivation to go back to school, I still lacked an idea for a major. Determined to be in school I had signed up for basic courses and tested the waters in subjects that sparked my interest. That was until my car project came along and gave me direction.

I believe that I have enough drive and interest in Engineering to succeed in it. I am very motivated by new challenges and solving problems. My goal to become an engineer is extremely important to me, and I am looking forward to beginning the process. I hope someday that someone will have a project to work on something I have built, and that it will inspire them to do great things, as my project has done for me.