Submission Number: 353
Submission ID: 1192
Submission UUID: f0f604a1-15f0-4518-b9ce-cbb6e653e23b

Created: Sat, 04/15/2023 - 23:45
Completed: Sat, 04/15/2023 - 23:45
Changed: Wed, 05/07/2025 - 04:41

Remote IP address: 138.202.129.44
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
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Brandon
Ta
He/Him/His
Pueblo
CO
United States Of America
81008
Open Ended Engineering, Interest in Aerospace and Environmental
English (5), Vietnamese (4), Spanish (2)
With the privilege of traveling back to my family’s first home, Vietnam, I was simply changed. It was my first-grade summer, and although every part of the world was still new to me, I still understood the vast difference between these two countries. Compared to America, in Vietnam I was given the freedom to explore my local neighborhood without the supervision of my parents, so with my young and unrestrained soul I ventured out of my house and into the streets of Vietnam. The feeling of my dry American skin moistened by the humid Vietnamese air caused it to sting with a liberating feeling. I could feel each step sink deeper into the thick Vietnamese mud. As I trudged through the unpaved streets I became acutely aware of the lack of urbanization that I was so familiar with. However, right when I was just starting to fit in I was pulled back to America.
As I fell back into a repetitive routine in a small town, I found myself reflecting on memories of the past and found a love and appreciation for the stories and wisdom my grandparents shared to me in our native tongue. They painted scenes of walks through their farmland, to the ruination and devastation left by the Vietnam War. With these images, I asked myself, “How could I bring their stories to the present and weave those strands into my own of my own journey.” I concluded that with the tools I learn from engineering, I can penetrate the boundary between thought and physicality.
Through these experiences, I set my brain and heart ablaze, as I invested in a 3D printer to create and explore deeper the intersectionality between art, science, technology, language, and culture. I knew that there was so much more to learn. So, I daydreamed and shared my ambitions, hopes, and stories with my predominately Hispanic community. Listening to various narratives has shown me the necessity of diversity in engineering. Growing up with my cultural background and in a community rich with a different culture, I was able to see the web that connects Vietnam, U.S, and Latin America. I am reminded that complexity exists in simplicity, which can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places . Through inclusive design, we can bridge cultures together.
I imagine the person down the hall from me to be similar yet immensely different from me. Our similarities would be shared through our ambitions to succeed in this career field and through our desire to share our knowledge and skills with the world. Our differences would stem from completely different backgrounds ranging from philosophies to completely different cultures. I imagine sitting behind a screen at 1 am and hearing a notification from my neighbor asking me to help them with some problem they’re stuck on. We’d meet somewhere and brainstorm till 3 am or until our brains give out. In the halls, I hear my neighbors excited to share not only their projects but their backgrounds with each other. Hearing this friendly banter would draw me out of my room and share my own suggestion based on my Vietnamese background. I can imagine those days when I’ll find myself drowning in my own sea of homework in a melancholic mood. Knowing that there are others who share the same struggle we’d come together to engineer solutions and an ever-strong comradery.
My desire to share my skills and knowledge to those who don’t share this same opportunity to learn, I believe aligns with the mission Global Engineering RAP is in pursuit of. Given my deeply unique background growing up as a Vietnamese American in a predominantly Hispanic town, I believe I can contribute to discussions on what problems exist, how to solve them, as well as acknowledge how problems can have different solutions based on things like the environment or cultural differences. Although I can bring a lot of dialogue and skills I learned from my environment and schooling, I know that being in this program will give me many more opportunities to learn not just about engineering but other people’s cultures. Throughout my life, I’ve found comfort in sharing my vulnerabilities and taking the first step to break the ice. I’m not afraid to step out of my comfort zone and adapt to everchanging dynamics and environments.
Thinking like an engineer; this bigger dataset will allow me to account for more variables and come up with potentially better solutions. In this setting, I hope to work alongside faculty and my peers seeing the countries we travel to in a new light, as an engineering student. I hope to bring my dreams to reality and break the barrier between imagination and practicality. Having dreamers around me will encourage me to work even harder.
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