Submission Number: 402
Submission ID: 1345
Submission UUID: d4234187-69cd-4338-a10f-28293e44a8b2

Created: Sun, 03/31/2024 - 20:57
Completed: Sun, 03/31/2024 - 20:57
Changed: Tue, 09/03/2024 - 20:06

Remote IP address: 216.82.8.17
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
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Laura
Bunnell
she/her
Colorado Springs
Colorado
United States
80920
Environmental engineering
English (5), Spanish (3)
Like my dad, I cannot sit still. I must be constantly moving and experiencing new things. As a military officer, he gave me the opportunity to travel the world. There are a lot of negatives to being a military kid. I had a hard time keeping friends, we didn’t have familial connections anywhere we lived, and I was unsure how long my dad would be away from home or if he would come home at all. However, the experiences provided by his various assignments outweighed the negatives. Within the first four years of my life, I had lived in three countries. Every country approached energy, sustainability, and engineering differently. As I got older, I became interested in the environmental policies in each country. For example, Germany, where I was born, leads Europe in reducing fossil fuel emissions. They have accomplished this by working hand in hand with engineers to create more sustainable and renewable energy alternatives. Germany specifically encouraged the use of cogeneration, technology that creates electricity and heat simultaneously from a single fuel source.

In addition to my international travels, I have lived in several states in the United States. The experiences I gained from these places of residency varied in culture and livelihood. Living in Colorado Springs for the past 10 years, I have become familiar with the competition that this area fosters. Students’ biggest priorities are class rank and high grades. The acceptance rate of the college you eventually enroll at is a determining factor in your success. This culture is not universal though. When I lived in Florida, in a less fortunate town, academics did not hold the same value. The high schools focused on graduation rates instead of GPA. Students worried about supporting their family financially over college. These experiences helped me to prioritize my family and friends over the academic pressure that my school creates.

While I have lived in several countries and states, I gained these experiences at a very young age. I was merely observing life through a very young girl’s lens. Being a part of Global Engineering RAP would give me the opportunity to continue my travels and create change as a young adult that has an expanded capacity to enact change.
I am most familiar with a competitive environment because of the high achieving students at my current school. I had the goal of being top ten in my class, and to achieve this, I dove headfirst into the academic competition. This environment provided me with motivation I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I refused to give up unless I was truly unable to achieve my goal despite my best efforts. The pressure to remain competitive led to some of my worst moments as well: anxiety attacks, sleepless nights, and times of self-doubt. While this environment was ultimately beneficial for me, my experiences have led me to value collaboration more. Competition can be advantageous, but when taken to extremes it becomes toxic and ineffective. I would like the person down the hall to share similar motivation to me academically so they can challenge me and allow me to thrive as an engineering student at CU Boulder. Working alongside other impressive engineering students will lead me to a more remarkable result than I could achieve alone. Great developments do not come from one person’s work but are instead developed over time through ideas building on top of one another. A collaborative environment would best replicate the engineering work I would encounter in the work force.
My reasoning for going into the engineering field is simple: I want to help people and the environment. Growing up in Colorado, I experienced outdoor activities and miraculous wildlife sightings across vistas in Estes Park, Boulder, and my beautiful hometown of Colorado Springs that made my love for the environment flourish. The sociology class I took this past semester brought issues to my attention regarding the environment’s impact on groups of people, particularly through environmental racism. Upon learning about the severity of environmental racism, I knew I wanted to pursue an engineering education to help the people affected by this issue in addition to working towards a solution for environmental degradation.

Being a part of the Global Engineering RAP would give me the resources to make these goals a reality. I would receive the opportunity to not just help people in my community but to help peers internationally. I would be exposed to novel cultures that would further my understanding of the issues I hope to solve. Other students in this program share similar motivations to me, which will push me to success. Alongside fellow Global Engineering RAP students, engineering can be used as a means for change in communities that don’t have the resources to create that change independently.

I can contribute to the Global Engineering RAP through my experience as a military child and interests in the environment and sustainability. By having lived in other countries, I am flexible and open to a variety of solutions and perspectives. I believe Global Engineering RAP can benefit from students who share their unique experiences and incorporate different schools of thought into interactions with students and faculty. I look forward to contributing to this diverse and innovative engineering community.
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