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. One year ago I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to the Darjeeling region of India to participate in a 10 day long service trip. Our small team of 10 spent a week and a half backpacking through remote regions of the Himalayan Mountains. We traveled to villages, unreachable by car or train, offering aid in any way we could. Whether we were providing educational assistance, or food, our goal was to leave a positive impact on those we interacted with. Each day we backpacked roughly 10 miles, visiting multiple villages, and interacting with hundreds of locals.
As this was the first time I could remember leaving the country, it was a very impactful experience. I vividly remember the culture shock that I felt when I first stepped off the plane in India. Everything from the smell, to the airport guards armed with machine guns, was new to me. However, after beginning our hiking adventure I began to feel at home. The locals were some of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Farmers everywhere would offer me bananas and oranges as we left their village, and the children would run to us with glee as we entered their village.
However, the strongest connections I felt occurred on the fifth night there when we set up camp on a small dirt soccer field. I had played soccer my whole life and had always desired to play overseas. Because of this, I was overjoyed to play soccer with a group of young village boys. We spent hours that evening playing soccer, and I came to the conclusion that even though I had lived a completely different life than the boys I was playing with, we were connected in our shared love for soccer. This feeling of connection, despite being in a place so unfamiliar, was so powerful that I found it extremely difficult to leave.
While the trip was a wonderful experience, it opened my eyes to some of the struggle in other parts of the world. In India, pollution was the biggest issue I saw. There was no trash disposal system, leading to mounds of trash everywhere. Running water was rare, and warm water was an even rarer pleasure. After that trip, I have begun viewing my work and education differently. I’ve started viewing life from a different perspective, constantly wondering how I can use my skills to make a positive impact in the world. I want to continue traveling so I can continue exposing myself to new cultures, experiences, and most importantly, problems. I want to see what is broken in the world and find ways to fix it.