Submission Number: 99
Submission ID: 433
Submission UUID: f7efd1e9-b2d8-49ae-bfdb-9ff51382a72d

Created: Wed, 05/19/2021 - 12:59
Completed: Wed, 05/19/2021 - 12:59
Changed: Wed, 05/07/2025 - 22:38

Remote IP address: 76.120.116.146
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
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Adrian
Tabin
he/him
Fort Collins
CO
United States
80524
Aerospace Engineering
Czech (5), English (5), Spanish (5), German (2)
I have lived the majority of my life so far overseas. I was born in Chicago but at one month of age my family moved to the small town of Podebrady in the Czech Republic to be closer to my mother’s family. Podebrady was the town where I grew up, the place where I made my first friends, and where I started school. After five years, however, my father’s work required our family to move away, this time to Cambridge, United Kingdom. Here I adapted to a completely different cultural environment and had to face the challenge of suddenly taking primary school classes in a different language. Nonetheless, I overcame the challenges and soon became comfortable once again with my new situation. Unfortunately, my Cambridge experience didn’t last long because two years later my family moved to Spain to a small village called Competa in the Sierra de Tejeda mountains, about 50 kilometers east of Malaga. Here I attended second grade in primary school and again had to overcome similar challenges as in the UK but this time in an entirely different language. The constant moving, however, wasn’t even close to being over, as just the next year we moved back to Podebrady again, followed by a move back to the UK, this time to London, and finally another move to Colorado, USA in 2012. Although at the moment of those moves I definitely looked at them in a negative way since I usually had to say goodbye to my life and friends in that region, however, looking back now I have a different perspective. The constant moving, although sometimes sad, has prepared me well for any times in my future when I will be moving again, such as into a Global Engineering dorm at CU, and I believe I can also contribute my experience to help other students transition smoothly into their new environment.
The person I’d like to live down the hall is someone who might be different from me in some ways that might help me to learn new things, yet be similar enough that we share some values and are able to find common ground. By this I mean that my ideal “dorm mate” is someone with whom I can connect on a fundamental level yet is also unique and distinctive as to allow for interesting conversation and the opportunity for both of us to learn from each other. As appealing as it might be to have a near-identical “dorm mate” since we’d share all the same interests; meeting someone new and getting to know their unique personality and learning from their amazing experiences and stories is far more interesting to me. The fact that the Global Engineering RAP is all about meeting new and interesting people with amazing stories and is full of unique and distinctive individuals, is only another reason why I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to apply there.
I originally heard about the Global Engineering RAP through an old high school friend who is now a second-year student at CU. He had great things to say about it, so I continued doing my own research about the RAP, including reading about it online as well as speaking to several students from my CU Sounding Rocket Lab group who were also a part of it. After only hearing great things about the RAP and reading about some amazing experiences and opportunities it might contribute to my training as an engineer, I had to apply. I fully understand that engineering isn’t just a one-sided math/science field, and nowadays an effective engineer must utilize more than just raw STEM skills to be successful in a diverse and global environment. I hope that the Global Engineering RAP will help me expand upon my previous international experience and help me get on track to become a successful engineer. I also hope I can provide the same kind of support for other students in the Global Engineering RAP and help them on their journey to becoming successful engineers.
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