Prompt:Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
I have always heard the words "never give up" and I thought I knew what they truly meant, but I was wrong. Sure, I have never given up in many things like last-minute English essays or devotedly practicing for a soccer championship, but I have only recently come to understand the true meaning of these words.
I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend the fully sponsored Summer Engineering Seminar (SES) at Santa Clara University this summer. During this one week exploration of the various types of Engineering and its applications, we undertook courses in fields ranging from Electrical Engineering to Civil Engineering. We also took several elective courses including an Introduction to Nanotechnology, Robotics, and Renewable Energy. To further put our skills to the test, we competed in various engineering competitions every night. These competitions ranged anywhere from building a duck tape hammock to constructing a potato catapult. Whether for good or bad, my team and I never won a competition, and by the end of the week I was disappointed and eager to prove my abilities as an Engineer. Besides, I really wanted the red LED light all the winners got.
On the third day we were finally assigned the "grand" project, to build a rubber band powered device to transport a single quarter. Many of us thought little of it and considered the project trivial, but we would soon learn otherwise. We were simply given a square sheet of cardboard, paperclips, a straw, tape, the rubber band, and of course a quarter with which to construct our devices. Over the course of the next three days, my group and I experimented with various designs including the obvious car-type design, but it was all in vain. It was then that we had a marvelous idea-simplicity. We decided to follow this concept and brainstormed various designs and, as is likely to happen in a group of five engineering loving boys, we finally decided to build a slingshot type device. The design was indeed simple, a cardboard encased quarter, to increase traction, was attached to a rubber band and we were in business. While our previous models generally stopped after traveling about ten feet, our new model just kept going until the quarter finally skid to at stop after more than 29 feet. It was then that a horrible "what if" struck our minds, "what if, our new design didn't fit in the rules!"
The next day we quickly went to talk to our Engineering Design professor after class and even he seemed a bit awe-struck at the sheer simplicity of our design. After reading the rules thoroughly, his verdict was that our design lacked sufficient use of any materials except the rubber band. We were shattered, but not for long, I had a brilliant idea and asked the professor if our device would be eligible if we just used more cardboard and after thinking about it again he said that was fine. My idea was inspired by an atom, so we put the quarter in the middle of a piece of circular cardboard and attached five more circles together using cut out inserts. We then covered the entire "Atom" with tape to reduce friction and compensate for the empty spaces between the circle halves. So come Friday morning, my group was prepared to finally win. While the average distance traveled for the other groups' devices was less than 25 feet, my group's device traveled more than 50 feet before finally hitting the back wall. A roar of cheers went up as our "Atom Slingshot", as we called it, hit the wall and we were finally winners.
Sure, the huge bag of prizes and the LED light were great and more than made up for not winning all week, but the lesson learned was even more valuable. I could have given up after my third failure but I kept going, if only for the LED light, but once the final day had ended and I was victorious, I finally appreciated the lesson I had learnt. I will never give up on my goal of being an Engineer because by persevering, I will overcome any and all obstacles between me and my goals.
Mostly I need help cutting down the word count because my first UC essay is kind long too, so thats a major issue right now. Other than that it's mostly a issue of if it makes sense or not and if the essay really tells the speaker about me. Thanks a Lot
I have always heard the words "never give up" and I thought I knew what they truly meant, but I was wrong. Sure, I have never given up in many things like last-minute English essays or devotedly practicing for a soccer championship, but I have only recently come to understand the true meaning of these words.
I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend the fully sponsored Summer Engineering Seminar (SES) at Santa Clara University this summer. During this one week exploration of the various types of Engineering and its applications, we undertook courses in fields ranging from Electrical Engineering to Civil Engineering. We also took several elective courses including an Introduction to Nanotechnology, Robotics, and Renewable Energy. To further put our skills to the test, we competed in various engineering competitions every night. These competitions ranged anywhere from building a duck tape hammock to constructing a potato catapult. Whether for good or bad, my team and I never won a competition, and by the end of the week I was disappointed and eager to prove my abilities as an Engineer. Besides, I really wanted the red LED light all the winners got.
On the third day we were finally assigned the "grand" project, to build a rubber band powered device to transport a single quarter. Many of us thought little of it and considered the project trivial, but we would soon learn otherwise. We were simply given a square sheet of cardboard, paperclips, a straw, tape, the rubber band, and of course a quarter with which to construct our devices. Over the course of the next three days, my group and I experimented with various designs including the obvious car-type design, but it was all in vain. It was then that we had a marvelous idea-simplicity. We decided to follow this concept and brainstormed various designs and, as is likely to happen in a group of five engineering loving boys, we finally decided to build a slingshot type device. The design was indeed simple, a cardboard encased quarter, to increase traction, was attached to a rubber band and we were in business. While our previous models generally stopped after traveling about ten feet, our new model just kept going until the quarter finally skid to at stop after more than 29 feet. It was then that a horrible "what if" struck our minds, "what if, our new design didn't fit in the rules!"
The next day we quickly went to talk to our Engineering Design professor after class and even he seemed a bit awe-struck at the sheer simplicity of our design. After reading the rules thoroughly, his verdict was that our design lacked sufficient use of any materials except the rubber band. We were shattered, but not for long, I had a brilliant idea and asked the professor if our device would be eligible if we just used more cardboard and after thinking about it again he said that was fine. My idea was inspired by an atom, so we put the quarter in the middle of a piece of circular cardboard and attached five more circles together using cut out inserts. We then covered the entire "Atom" with tape to reduce friction and compensate for the empty spaces between the circle halves. So come Friday morning, my group was prepared to finally win. While the average distance traveled for the other groups' devices was less than 25 feet, my group's device traveled more than 50 feet before finally hitting the back wall. A roar of cheers went up as our "Atom Slingshot", as we called it, hit the wall and we were finally winners.
Sure, the huge bag of prizes and the LED light were great and more than made up for not winning all week, but the lesson learned was even more valuable. I could have given up after my third failure but I kept going, if only for the LED light, but once the final day had ended and I was victorious, I finally appreciated the lesson I had learnt. I will never give up on my goal of being an Engineer because by persevering, I will overcome any and all obstacles between me and my goals.
Mostly I need help cutting down the word count because my first UC essay is kind long too, so thats a major issue right now. Other than that it's mostly a issue of if it makes sense or not and if the essay really tells the speaker about me. Thanks a Lot