Submission Number: 488
Submission ID: 1630
Submission UUID: 22820651-e653-48e4-aacf-11443eee7daf

Created: Mon, 03/17/2025 - 21:10
Completed: Mon, 03/17/2025 - 21:10
Changed: Mon, 04/21/2025 - 16:46

Remote IP address: 2600:1700:3901:16e0:206a:6277:6d55:9423
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
{Empty}
Kendall
Hancock
She/Her
Durham
North Carolina
United States
27705
Aerospace
English(5)
Three years ago, I left the country for the first time. My family and I traveled to Mexico and Roatán, Honduras. It was the farthest I had ever been from home, and I cherished every moment of it. The following year, we went to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, that trip for me was life changing. We traveled with EF Tours, and our schedule was packed—we stayed in a new place every day and barely managed to get five hours of sleep each night.
Since then, I haven’t had the chance to explore another country, but in just nine days, that will change. This year for spring break, two of my friends and I will be heading to Berlin, Germany for 10 days. We're funding the trip ourselves and traveling just the three of us. My friend Naomi has been helping me learn the basics of German for the trip, and this process has given me a newfound appreciation for the time and effort that goes into budgeting and planning a trip like this. I wish I had more to tell you about my international travels, but if you ask me again in a year or two I should have much more to tell you. I love the unfamiliar and the Global Engineering RAP will help me experience new things.
I think sometimes people get so stuck in their own small world they forget to look around them and see how much more is out there. Collaboration is the cornerstone of problem solving, and at our core engineers are problem solvers. Global experiences and perspectives accelerate technological advancement and create a network of different ideas spanning across hundreds of different cultures. Looking for answers all over the world instead of just one small part of it provides the opportunity to discover many dynamic solutions. Limiting oneself to just their own country is a waste and honestly an ignorant way to live. There is so much to learn from each other through globalization. The field of aerospace engineering is constantly evolving, and that's a good thing. My hope is that it never stops progressing and is always headed towards a more environmentally sustainable future. It is my belief that exposure to international experience acts as a catalyst for scientific development. I will travel as much as possible while in college because I love it and honestly think it will serve me well in the future.
People need friends and connections who have similar goals to them. In high school several of my friends have very different priorities and plans in place. Some of them are focused on sports, one on music, two on immediately joining the workforce, one on trade school, and one on e-commerce. For them those things take precedence above all else. I love those friends and wouldn't trade them for the world, but it has been massively helpful to also have friends working towards attending a four year university. I think the Global Engineering RAP community is perfect for me because it offers me a chance to make friends following a similar path to my own so we can lift each other up and build a strong generation of engineers through a joint effort to be better. I will do all I can to support the other students around me and trust that they will do the same for me when I need it. Our peers will be invaluable resources that we can consult at any time.