question:For applicants to The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Member Questions section. (300 words or less)
Science has always been a passion for me. For a matter of fact, I was a junior engineer as a kid, always taking things apart- at the angst of my family- and putting them together. I had an interest in all forms of science including physics, chemistry, and biology. My appreciation for science began as a result of the media. I remember reading the Maximum Ride novels, and longing to have wings just like fang, the dark winged, silent, jock of the novels. The idea of attaining the attributes of another species and augmenting my abilities to aid me in life, seemed like a dream, a dream further strengthened by the various Spiderman comics I read growing up. For several years the allure of genetic engineering was just that, to become something that I was not. Only in my freshman year of high school did I recognize the truly vast potential of genetic engineering. After going to various school trips to health facilities, meeting veterans of the Vietnam War, and witnessing the outcome of trisomy 21, I began to think, what if we lived in a world where our health concerns were no longer a problem. What if we could create a new generation of human beings that are not susceptible to birth defects and are able to replace their organs if fatally injured without the need of a transplant from another person? With my grandfather slowly falling into the clutches of Alzheimer's, the fire burning within me was fanned once more. And that's what ultimately drives me to become an engineer, to make sure no one suffers the same fate as my grandfather.
Science has always been a passion for me. For a matter of fact, I was a junior engineer as a kid, always taking things apart- at the angst of my family- and putting them together. I had an interest in all forms of science including physics, chemistry, and biology. My appreciation for science began as a result of the media. I remember reading the Maximum Ride novels, and longing to have wings just like fang, the dark winged, silent, jock of the novels. The idea of attaining the attributes of another species and augmenting my abilities to aid me in life, seemed like a dream, a dream further strengthened by the various Spiderman comics I read growing up. For several years the allure of genetic engineering was just that, to become something that I was not. Only in my freshman year of high school did I recognize the truly vast potential of genetic engineering. After going to various school trips to health facilities, meeting veterans of the Vietnam War, and witnessing the outcome of trisomy 21, I began to think, what if we lived in a world where our health concerns were no longer a problem. What if we could create a new generation of human beings that are not susceptible to birth defects and are able to replace their organs if fatally injured without the need of a transplant from another person? With my grandfather slowly falling into the clutches of Alzheimer's, the fire burning within me was fanned once more. And that's what ultimately drives me to become an engineer, to make sure no one suffers the same fate as my grandfather.