Please describe any travel or experiences that have prepared you for the Global Engineering RAP. This can include international travel and study abroad or any travel or experiences within the US that have showed you new perspectives, cultures or languages. If you have not had the chance yet to travel, please share where you would like to travel and why. My father was in the Air Force and also worked for NATO, which resulted in my family moving around a lot and me being born in France! While I remember almost nothing about my time in France, we moved back to the U.S. 3 years later, I do think it contributed to my interest in other countries! When I was 12, my family and I traveled back to France and I was surprised with how different it was from the U.S, namely the transportation! Even at 12, I loathed having to drive everywhere and I did not even have to drive myself! Being able to walk almost anywhere or taking public transportation was something I never experienced in America. When we got back, I began to envy France and other countries for their easily accessible and efficient transportation and eventually how they handled other aspects of their citizens’ lives. I think a lot of people in America and other countries have a phase in which they compare their country to others and realize their country does not measure up. However, as I began to get older and learn more about the world, I realized that no country is truly perfect. What I think is really beautiful and important about pursuing a global perspective, as opposed to one focused on one nation, is acknowledging that we have things to learn from others and things to teach others! Growing up and living in different countries fosters very unique perspectives and sharing them can open up conversations and find new solutions that would not have been considered before! Realizing this has helped me to be more open-minded and strive to create an environment in which these experiences can be shared!