Submission Number: 117
Submission ID: 473
Submission UUID: c9efc38e-287d-4ab9-8cb5-c4b19b2e4f98

Created: Sun, 05/30/2021 - 00:30
Completed: Sun, 05/30/2021 - 00:30
Changed: Tue, 09/03/2024 - 20:06

Remote IP address: 38.75.237.173
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
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Davis
Davalos-DeLosh
He/him/his
Fort Collins
CO
United States
80526
Computer Science
English (5), Spanish (3)
I have traveled to many places around the world with different perspectives on education that have prepared me for the Global Engineering RAP. These include China, Japan, various countries across Europe, etc. Most importantly, however, I participated in an exchange program with the John F. Kennedy school in Berlin, Germany which had 50/50 classes in Germany and English, and have visited there many times since. I have kept in touch with my German exchange student and because of this, I believe that I have gained a more internationalized perspective. Some of the most memorable moments for me while I was in school was taking a survey with German students on their perceptions of cigarettes, and analyzing the data afterwards. While I didn’t have a frame of comparison, I was surprised by how educated the students were about the topic despite us being young at the time. During these experiences, I came face-to-face with issues that were less apparent to me in the United States, particularly in China. I remember the juxtaposition from traveling only a little ways out from a sprawling urbanized city into a small town that wasn’t provided nearly the same resources. These issues, among the heavy pollution, etc. gave me a very different perspective on what the world really looked like, especially with my privilege in being able to live in a low-pollution area with more resources. Overall, I think that these experiences make me a great fit for tackling these issues and combining my passion for computer science and engineering to gain a better understanding and possibly work to have a change on the world.
I generally have two perspectives on what kind of people I like to hang out with the most, either that they have a personality similar to mine so that we can have fun doing the same kind of things, or that they provide a different perspective that I can engage with well. For example, having a common interest in video games, programming, or other hobbies has been the main catalyst for having the friends I currently have, without having the same or even similar political positions, etc. For example, I used to have a pretty contrary political position with a friend in Germany, but this allowed us to have fun debates with each other given both of our interests in political science. With this in mind, I think the person I would want to live down the hall from me would most probably be someone interested in computer science or mathematics, given the focus on engineering, but with differences so that we could learn from each other. Finally, and where the Global Engineering RAP plays a more significant role, I think that others interested in similar global issues as myself such as the health implications that affect millions due to pollution, poverty, and inadequate policy decision and resources are going to be much more present in a RAP like Global Engineering, and I think that my goal to become more educated of these issues could only be strengthened if I was admitted.
Having attended International Baccalaureate schools since elementary school and consistently pursuing internationalization in my education, from taking the maximum amount of Spanish I could have in elementary, middle, and high school, to the exchange program to Germany, I believe that I have made myself well-poised for a program such as this. Atop hearing of the strong community that the RAP has historical had, I believe that the Global Engineering RAP at CU Boulder would be a great followup to my previous experience. I believe that joining the community would ideally help me to learn and study with people with similar interests to myself while also allowing for a broader, more encompassing perspective that is often hard to find elsewhere. As an engineer, I believe the community would contribute greatly to my training as an engineer by honing my capabilities towards issues of global significance, with the accompanying course being important to me in discovering how people have used technology to solve the issues of many. This comes among many other advantages I foresee, such as the focus on language emphasized in the program which would help me to continue my Spanish education from high school that I would like to make stronger. As for the residential community, I hope to bring my unique experiences I have gained from traveling and studying abroad along with my skills in software engineering to play an important role in our discussions and thought-process, while hopefully also being a pleasant addition to the community.
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