Why Mechanical Engineering? by Samuel

Why Mechanical Engineering? by Samuel - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I want to major in mechanical engineering in college so that I can make my ideas into a reality. When I was little, I would draw trains and spaceships (mostly trains) on the coloring sheets at restaurants. Now, I’ve progressed to CADing my own battlebot ideas and small-scale wind turbines. I love how engineering allows me to take my ideas in my head and on paper and translate them into reality.
I got to explore engineering this past summer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. My team and I had a $60 budget and a week to build an RC battleship from scratch. I enjoyed the rush of completing the wiring and problem-solving when we got “magic smoke” after accidentally shorting the battery. We had issues during the building process, such as making sure our boat would float, but each problem was a puzzle to solve and a challenge to learn from. Watching the boat that I helped design and build cross the university pond was the ultimate reward and solidified my desire to study mechanical engineering.
As I explore my design development, I continually see every little mechanism in every machine, and marvel that each was designed by someone. I'm amazed when I think of the engineers working together as a team to make one machine to impact a person's life. I want to be one of those engineers. I want to learn the toolset to make something that positively impacts a person’s life.