This is the prompt: Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
"When I said that I wanted a ramp for my skateboard, I didn't mean...this," I said as I stared at the towering monstrosity before me. "Oh come on, you'll like it. It'll be fun, trust me," my dad said with a grin as he lifted me up to the top of the ramp, which was parallel in height to the roof. The wood groaned under my 7-year-old weight. This had been another one of my dad's contraptions, thinking that, being an engineer, he could build it bigger and better. "Why can't I have a normal dad?" I grumbled. Little did I know that my father would be the single most important factor in shaping the person I am today.
While other dads could be seen playing catch with their kids, you would find my dad instead showing me exactly why certain medical products of his were having problems, and what he could do to fix them. Instead of letting me build a derby car that looked cool, he explained to me how the friction and air resistance affected its speed, and used calipers and a high-resolution digital scale to make sure it was up to specifications. Often times my head would be in my hands as he went on a 30-minute lecture on the theory behind a math problem I had asked about. As unconventional as my dad was, I would soon find myself thinking like him. Maybe, like him, I wasn't meant to be normal.
"How can you make it better?" That's what my dad always said to me, whether he was talking about a paper airplane that failed to glide, or looking at the pile of cords beneath my computer. These words have found their way into the very fabric of my being. They have inspired my own dream of becoming an engineer: to better the world through my designs. Throughout my life my passions have included math, the sciences, and technology. Engineering has seemed like an obvious combination of the three things that I love. I now find myself explaining the concept behind math problems to my friends, as well as looking at little issues in my life and thinking of ways to improve it. As a child my dad would show me pictures of doctors using his design on cadaver heads, and instead of being horrified, I was completely amazed. This made me realize that my future may also lie on the medical side of engineering. Having seen firsthand people's lives improved through my father's work, I have realized that I can make a difference through engineering as well. I aspire to eventually run the engineering portion of my dad's company, and, as he would say, "make it better."
Although I may not have had the most normal childhood, my dad has conditioned me to think differently than the average person. I have become an offbeat person who thinks more than just about the problem at hand, but at the concept behind it. My ability to think unconventionally will bring much to the engineering field. I also aim to improve people's lives through my abilities, and do whatever it takes to reach this goal. If can improve at least one person's life with my efforts, it will bring meaning to mine and make it worth living.
