Submission Number: 41
Submission ID: 311
Submission UUID: a1eaea45-cfb8-425d-861d-014027cf5dc2

Created: Mon, 04/19/2021 - 18:17
Completed: Mon, 04/19/2021 - 18:17
Changed: Wed, 05/07/2025 - 23:03

Remote IP address: 71.150.226.202
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No

Flagged: Yes
Locked: Yes
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Emma
Kovalic
she/her
St. Louis
Missouri
USA
63105
Creative Technology and Design (ATLAS)
English (5), Spanish (3), Italian (1), French (1), ASL (1)
My earliest memory of traveling is from when I was seven, doing parkour around the pantheon grounds in Rome with my brothers. I watched them sail from rock to rock, their longer legs making it easy for them to reach each one. Following them, my little feet stepped on each rock, jumping around with them, until I didn’t. On one larger gap, I slipped and scraped the front of my leg while falling. Still to this day I have a mark on my leg from the rocks at the pantheon, carrying around a memory of Italy with me forever.
Having grandparents who live in London has allowed me to travel a lot, my favorite trips being those in countries where I didn’t speak the language. Interacting with people who have a different way of living and getting to experience their cultures first hand is something that I will always treasure. My family and I took a road trip around the countryside of Spain, France, and Italy when I was in 5th grade. Our first night we stayed in a little village on the top of a mountain, where at night we went to a block party. There, I met some other kids around my age and though we didn’t speak the same language, we still found ways to communicate with each other and spent the night dancing and doing gymnastics. From there I got to bike through vineyards in France, wander through the narrow market streets of Italy, and eat pizza at the local village in Spain. I’ve been back to Europe a couple times since then, and each time I go I feel a little more connected to the places I visit.
Though I have enjoyed all of my trips, my favorite was one in Spain during early high school, because my Spanish vocabulary was finally setting in and I got to communicate with people who spoke it as their native language. Getting around Spain, I was my family’s communicator. I helped us order at restaurants and got to improve my Spanish. Being in Spain for a week I got to learn more about the culture, and what it might be like to live there. One of my favorite things about travelling is seeing what differences there are between American culture and the places we are visiting. In Italy, my mom and I found out that you need to do your shopping at certain times and on certain days because the shops were closed in the middle of the day, and depending on the day, sometimes all day. I also enjoy getting to try new food that we don’t have as much in America. In France, I lived off of caprese salads and donut peaches. My mom and I took a cooking class there as well where I learned how to prepare a rack of lamb, bake gougeres, and try duck pate, all of which I have never eaten before. Travelling to Europe has given me the opportunity to realize that I love to travel, so I am interested in exploring this more in college.
In the Global Engineering RAP, I would want someone spontaneous to live down the hall from me. They would be down to go on any adventures with me, whether that is a weekend getaway to go camping, or try a new restaurant with a cuisine we’ve never heard of before. I would want to be able to learn languages with them, practicing Duolingo on weekends, maybe learning Italian or ASL, or going around campus and learning how to read braille (which I have done at my school!). I’d want someone who is in a similar major as me so we can study together late at night (I think having a roommate with a different major would be more interesting than one with the same major, though I want someone nearby who I can talk to about my studies!). I’d want someone to watch travel vlogs on YouTube while we cook a new dish, or read books together in the park. In all, I want someone who is very carefree, open minded, and not afraid to step outside of their comfort zone to try something new.
I’ve always loved learning about cultures different from mine. Every year my school holds world food nights where people within the school community come together and share their culture through a night of making food, and my dad and I went to every one. Those were my favorite nights of the whole year, getting to try different food and learn about my community's life. In the residential community, as I am really passionate about cooking, I would love to help host something like the world food nights from my school: one or two nights a month where someone in the community can tell us about food from their culture we aren’t familiar with, and spend a night learning about a new type of cuisine. This coming May, I am volunteering at a company that works with women in Third World countries to help get them out of poverty by selling their goods for a fair price and helping them manage their finances efficiently. I would like to do more things like this in the future, and I think being part of the Global Engineering RAP would allow me to discover more things like this company in my college years. Being in this program will help me figure out where I want to study abroad, since I can learn where in the world I am interested in helping. The main reason I am interested in this program, though, is because I want to be surrounded by other people who also want to expand their cultural knowledge and live outside their comfort zones. When applying to colleges, one thing I really looked for was a school where I would have the opportunity to meet and talk with people from different backgrounds from myself. I think being in this program would allow me to really figure out what I want to do after college, and where I could help in the world. I would be honored to be a part of it.
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