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Submission information
Submission Number: 424
Submission ID: 1382
Submission UUID: 7ae6de61-8818-4376-b346-ced2d001be05
Created: Sun, 05/05/2024 - 19:17
Completed: Sun, 05/05/2024 - 19:17
Changed: Tue, 05/06/2025 - 22:32
Remote IP address: 73.78.51.219
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Flagged: Yes
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Elyse
Cutforth
she/her/hers
Lafayette
Colorado
United States
80026
Biomedical Engineering (plus double major in Music Performance)
English (5), Spanish (3)
International Service Trips and Exposure:
Five years ago, as my family and I drove over the U.S. border into Juarez, Mexico, on my very first service trip out of the country, I leaned my head against the window, taking in the scene of trash piles, stray dogs, and makeshift houses made of shipping pallets and raggedy blankets. My family and I, along with twelve other volunteers stayed there in Juarez for a week while building a house for a family in need. As I helped pour concrete the first morning, I watched the two young boys in the family we were building for, as they played a game nearby. I wanted to play too, wanted to interact with them and get to know the people I was there to serve. But I was shy and hesitant, since I didn’t know Spanish. Yet as I walked over there and joined their circle, they smiled at me and started singing the song for their game. I was put at ease by the familiar tune and my nerves disappeared. Throughout that week, I communicated with Pedro and Dani without the need for a shared language, but by listening to their songs and singing along in my own language. We had a different language, different region, different culture, yet were connected by the same song and the same passion for music. This experience fueled my already-developing love and appreciation of Latino culture, and inspired me to learn Spanish, a language I’m now nearly fluent in and using in my community to build connections across boundaries I once did not know how to overcome. This is only one of multiple trips I’ve taken with the service organization Casas Por Cristo, that builds houses for families in countries all throughout Latin America. While I’ve only ever been outside the U.S. to Mexico, these trips have inspired in me dreams of going to Latin America on service trips, particularly those where I would be able to interact with locals and children. This upcoming summer I’m hoping to go on a teen trip to Bolivia where I will stay with a host family and spend my days working with an international medical group providing care to local children in the area in need of medical/health-related care. The parts I look most forward to on this trip are helping those in need, experiencing the culture of Bolivia through the immersion of a trip abroad, and practicing my Spanish in a real-life context with my host family. I decided to travel to Bolivia because of a Bolivian family who lived with my best friend’s family for a summer last year. Their two young children became my playmates all summer long, and I improved my Spanish (both in terms of fluency, as well as with usage of colloquial phrases) a lot due to interacting with them and their children.
IB Program:
For the past two years, I’ve been a member of my school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. While I chose to join this program for many reasons such as my desire to challenge myself academically, the main thing I believe I have gotten out of this program that I least expected, is the realization of how big the world is and how much there is out there I may never experience or understand unless I actively pursue it. One of the IB program’s most emphasized values is the importance of being able to see multiple perspectives. While being a global organization, this oftentimes meant literal different geographical, or cultural perspectives from different places around the world. However, more than this, it also deeply instilled in me the wise appreciation that comes from understanding both the beauty and heartbreak that comes from having a global perspective on life. While intrigued and inspired by the cultural traditions and stories shared by my fellow IB Diploma students who transferred last year from Norway, simultaneously I’m devastated and infuriated by the injustice we’ve learned about, like what has been happening in countries like Afghanistan across the world, where culture has become a weapon to oppress others. But ultimately, this program has provided me with the ability to see the value in seeing different perspectives. And I hope to continue celebrating these values with a program like Global Engineering as I continue my journey into the world.
Exchange Students:
Ever since my mom was nearly twelve years old, my grandparents have taken in exchange students from all over the world into their home. My mom and her family lived in Germany for a few years while she was in elementary school, and missed the variety of culture they could experience there, when they moved back to the U.S. And since they couldn’t travel the world by themselves, they decided to have the world travel to them. Some have moved back to their home countries, and some have stayed here. But almost all of them have stayed in touch and continue to communicate about their lives, and visit us whenever they’re able. And while I of course was not alive for many of the periods of time when these people lived at my grandparent’s house, so many of them have kept in touch over the years and become not only pen pals or old friends, but family. Whether through the box of Swedish chocolates and sweets that arrives in a brown paper package on our countertop every Christmastime, the tales my mom tells me about when she went as an exchange student herself to Italy before college, knowing no Italian beyond “spaghetti”, or the stories told around the table every Thanksgiving when Faye and Rica, my “aunt” and “uncle” from Taiwan and the Congo respectively telling me how Congolese vegetables are cooked for hours, and how Taiwanese celebrate the new year with riddles written inside of homemade lanterns – these are the ways I’ve learned to experience the world. While perhaps not having the opportunities yet myself to travel around the world, I’ve learned that people who have experiences and cultures and languages different from my own, are just as fascinating, if not more fascinating, as those experiences and cultures and languages themselves. And until I’m able to get the resources to go witness these amazing things for myself, and perhaps study abroad or be an exchange student myself one day, I want to surround myself with people like all of my grandparents’ exchange students from 1987 to 2024: People who can show me the world through their own eyes.
Five years ago, as my family and I drove over the U.S. border into Juarez, Mexico, on my very first service trip out of the country, I leaned my head against the window, taking in the scene of trash piles, stray dogs, and makeshift houses made of shipping pallets and raggedy blankets. My family and I, along with twelve other volunteers stayed there in Juarez for a week while building a house for a family in need. As I helped pour concrete the first morning, I watched the two young boys in the family we were building for, as they played a game nearby. I wanted to play too, wanted to interact with them and get to know the people I was there to serve. But I was shy and hesitant, since I didn’t know Spanish. Yet as I walked over there and joined their circle, they smiled at me and started singing the song for their game. I was put at ease by the familiar tune and my nerves disappeared. Throughout that week, I communicated with Pedro and Dani without the need for a shared language, but by listening to their songs and singing along in my own language. We had a different language, different region, different culture, yet were connected by the same song and the same passion for music. This experience fueled my already-developing love and appreciation of Latino culture, and inspired me to learn Spanish, a language I’m now nearly fluent in and using in my community to build connections across boundaries I once did not know how to overcome. This is only one of multiple trips I’ve taken with the service organization Casas Por Cristo, that builds houses for families in countries all throughout Latin America. While I’ve only ever been outside the U.S. to Mexico, these trips have inspired in me dreams of going to Latin America on service trips, particularly those where I would be able to interact with locals and children. This upcoming summer I’m hoping to go on a teen trip to Bolivia where I will stay with a host family and spend my days working with an international medical group providing care to local children in the area in need of medical/health-related care. The parts I look most forward to on this trip are helping those in need, experiencing the culture of Bolivia through the immersion of a trip abroad, and practicing my Spanish in a real-life context with my host family. I decided to travel to Bolivia because of a Bolivian family who lived with my best friend’s family for a summer last year. Their two young children became my playmates all summer long, and I improved my Spanish (both in terms of fluency, as well as with usage of colloquial phrases) a lot due to interacting with them and their children.
IB Program:
For the past two years, I’ve been a member of my school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. While I chose to join this program for many reasons such as my desire to challenge myself academically, the main thing I believe I have gotten out of this program that I least expected, is the realization of how big the world is and how much there is out there I may never experience or understand unless I actively pursue it. One of the IB program’s most emphasized values is the importance of being able to see multiple perspectives. While being a global organization, this oftentimes meant literal different geographical, or cultural perspectives from different places around the world. However, more than this, it also deeply instilled in me the wise appreciation that comes from understanding both the beauty and heartbreak that comes from having a global perspective on life. While intrigued and inspired by the cultural traditions and stories shared by my fellow IB Diploma students who transferred last year from Norway, simultaneously I’m devastated and infuriated by the injustice we’ve learned about, like what has been happening in countries like Afghanistan across the world, where culture has become a weapon to oppress others. But ultimately, this program has provided me with the ability to see the value in seeing different perspectives. And I hope to continue celebrating these values with a program like Global Engineering as I continue my journey into the world.
Exchange Students:
Ever since my mom was nearly twelve years old, my grandparents have taken in exchange students from all over the world into their home. My mom and her family lived in Germany for a few years while she was in elementary school, and missed the variety of culture they could experience there, when they moved back to the U.S. And since they couldn’t travel the world by themselves, they decided to have the world travel to them. Some have moved back to their home countries, and some have stayed here. But almost all of them have stayed in touch and continue to communicate about their lives, and visit us whenever they’re able. And while I of course was not alive for many of the periods of time when these people lived at my grandparent’s house, so many of them have kept in touch over the years and become not only pen pals or old friends, but family. Whether through the box of Swedish chocolates and sweets that arrives in a brown paper package on our countertop every Christmastime, the tales my mom tells me about when she went as an exchange student herself to Italy before college, knowing no Italian beyond “spaghetti”, or the stories told around the table every Thanksgiving when Faye and Rica, my “aunt” and “uncle” from Taiwan and the Congo respectively telling me how Congolese vegetables are cooked for hours, and how Taiwanese celebrate the new year with riddles written inside of homemade lanterns – these are the ways I’ve learned to experience the world. While perhaps not having the opportunities yet myself to travel around the world, I’ve learned that people who have experiences and cultures and languages different from my own, are just as fascinating, if not more fascinating, as those experiences and cultures and languages themselves. And until I’m able to get the resources to go witness these amazing things for myself, and perhaps study abroad or be an exchange student myself one day, I want to surround myself with people like all of my grandparents’ exchange students from 1987 to 2024: People who can show me the world through their own eyes.
They would live down the hall from me, but always have their door open as if in the same room, and would be ready and excited to meet new people. They would be friendly and warm, always being the first to stick out their hand and introduce themselves, but never trying to actively be the center of attention, and always making sure to introduce their old friends to new friends. They would be outgoing and happy to share their life experiences living in different countries and how they found their way to CU Boulder, but would simultaneously be a great listener, intrigued by their other fellow engineers’ experiences, and showing genuine interest in the lives of others. They would make an active effort to get to know the other Global Engineering students, asking questions about their lives and interests, but without pushing too far, and being sensitive of what may or may not be too personal. They would be confident in their own abilities, but humble in nature, and always aiming to use their strengths to help others – helping others with homework, but not flaunting the skills that come easily to them, not shaming others for not knowing something, and not afraid to ask when they need help themselves. They’d be happy for their own successes, but also enthusiastically celebrate their friends’ successes, and never ever put others down in an attempt to make them feel better about themselves. They would be willing to get out of their comfort zone and try new things, saying “Sure, why not!” when someone suggests something fun, while still being firm about their own boundaries and not being too afraid to say “no” when needed. They would be enthusiastic about our shared passions, being excited to go out to a Peruvian restaurant and only speak Spanish the whole meal, or go with a group to volunteer at a local Spanish-speaking soup kitchen. They would be a conscientious and respectful student, picking up trash on the paths outside the dorms, making sure to put away their trays in the dining halls, and walking respectfully and quietly around the corners where they see other students obviously trying to study. In class, they would be a positive team member, and great classmate, leading by example in projects and making sure that all voices get heard, even from the quieter members who may not pipe up without a little nudge. They would be open-minded and kind to others, no matter who they were or whether or not they agree with their opinions, and they would see the value in listening to others’ perspectives and thoughts, even when they disagree. They would be a self-motivated student, always trying their best for the sake of trying their best, and showcasing a work ethic that inspired others. They would be optimistic and empathetic, seeing the good in things during rough times, and always being understanding to others’ situations. Overall, they would be a welcoming friend, genuine person, dedicated student, and compassionate individual.
I believe that my open-minded nature, and appreciative interest for different cultures and global perspectives makes me a great fit for Global Engineering at CU. Especially since I have lived in the Boulder area for the large majority of my life, I’m looking for ways at CU that I can broaden my experience into something bigger than simply moving a few miles down to campus. While I absolutely intend to do this through a variety of ways, I know from personal experience that by interacting with people of different backgrounds, I can gain an entirely different experience, and learn a ton about new cultures and ideas, no matter where I am geographically.
As a biomedical engineering student, and someone who wants to travel abroad in the future, I have aspirations to eventually travel to developing countries, helping those who do not have access to important medical and healthcare technologies, and bringing the advancements of science and engineering into those communities for economic and technological improvement. I hope to work with Engineers Without Borders and Doctors Without Borders, and similar organizations like this, to combine my passion for global and cultural interaction, and my education and skills in engineering. Beyond this, I hope to go into the field of education, being an engineering professor who can help support the coming generations of engineering students by sharing my experiences with them and encouraging them to go out and impact the world in similar ways. I see Global Engineering as a community built specifically for people like me: those who want to engage with others from different cultures, and want to learn more about each other in order to learn more about the world, all while sharing similar passions and aspirations in engineering. I think that being in the Global Engineering RAP will not only help me forge connections early on in college that will result in life-long friendships and connections, but that it will also be a way for me to continue staying open-minded as a person and engineer. It will be a community that will encourage me and challenge me to always see all perspectives at all times, and always be reassessing the ethics behind my choices. These values and skills will make me a stronger problem-solver, a more understanding team member, and a more effective engineer overall.
I believe that I can contribute a lot to the Global Engineering community by sharing my own experiences and connections with others, and fostering in the Global community the lessons I have learned in the IB Diploma program. Although I may not be living on campus past my freshman year, I hope to continue contributing to the RAP by pursuing a leadership role in it, as a way to pass on the knowledge I hope to gain from it. I will be a fully-engaged member of the RAP, always having my door open for meeting new people, and my mind open for hearing new perspectives and ideas. I hope to be the kind of person I described above when asked about who I’d want to live down the hall, and I believe I will be able to do this best in a community like Global Engineering.
As a biomedical engineering student, and someone who wants to travel abroad in the future, I have aspirations to eventually travel to developing countries, helping those who do not have access to important medical and healthcare technologies, and bringing the advancements of science and engineering into those communities for economic and technological improvement. I hope to work with Engineers Without Borders and Doctors Without Borders, and similar organizations like this, to combine my passion for global and cultural interaction, and my education and skills in engineering. Beyond this, I hope to go into the field of education, being an engineering professor who can help support the coming generations of engineering students by sharing my experiences with them and encouraging them to go out and impact the world in similar ways. I see Global Engineering as a community built specifically for people like me: those who want to engage with others from different cultures, and want to learn more about each other in order to learn more about the world, all while sharing similar passions and aspirations in engineering. I think that being in the Global Engineering RAP will not only help me forge connections early on in college that will result in life-long friendships and connections, but that it will also be a way for me to continue staying open-minded as a person and engineer. It will be a community that will encourage me and challenge me to always see all perspectives at all times, and always be reassessing the ethics behind my choices. These values and skills will make me a stronger problem-solver, a more understanding team member, and a more effective engineer overall.
I believe that I can contribute a lot to the Global Engineering community by sharing my own experiences and connections with others, and fostering in the Global community the lessons I have learned in the IB Diploma program. Although I may not be living on campus past my freshman year, I hope to continue contributing to the RAP by pursuing a leadership role in it, as a way to pass on the knowledge I hope to gain from it. I will be a fully-engaged member of the RAP, always having my door open for meeting new people, and my mind open for hearing new perspectives and ideas. I hope to be the kind of person I described above when asked about who I’d want to live down the hall, and I believe I will be able to do this best in a community like Global Engineering.
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