MIT "World You Come From" - Rural India

Describe the world you come from. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations? [250]

As the sun set the dirt roads quickly became pitch dark. I dug my hand into my pocket for my lighter and flipped on a tiny LED to find my way through the village. As I stepped indoors my family had begun to light lanterns throughout the house.

Electricity is a luxury in rural India, where it is only available for as little as eight hours a day. 400 million Indians are forced to completely live without it. When I would visit, I experienced the shoddy electrical infrastructure; the power lines are crude, unshielded, and often targets for thieves who steal electricity off of the grid because they cannot afford it.

One day my baby cousin was playing outside when an unshielded power line snapped and fell on him. He was instantly electrocuted and killed.
How is it that one of the world's most populated countries is severely lacking in something as basic as a stable electrical infrastructure - and what could I do about it?

Since the incident I strove to make a change. I began to research energy engineering and harvesting. I worked with Rutgers University and developed a solar power concentrator, a 'smart' solar panel modification that constantly finds the optimal source of sunlight and absorbs it. I made the project blueprints and code open source in hopes of helping others.

Good point. Try to spice the essay up with what you really want to do!! :)