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. I don’t remember sleeping much on the overnight flight from London to Luanda. Nervous anticipation kept me awake: excitement about moving to West Africa and anxiety about the change. I was ten years old when I first found out we were leaving, and at first, I thought it would be like going to school whilst on vacation. But as soon as I stepped out of the airport, I knew Angola would be a new realm of the unknown. On our two-hour drive across the city, through the luxury tarmac and on the harsh and unforgiving dirt roads, I learned how contrary Angola was to my hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland. Immediately I noticed the slums that made up the majority of the city: they consisted of small, densely packed houses constructed from scrap materials, bricks with dirt floors, corrugated iron roofs, and no sanitation or electricity. The alleys between these homes, open gutters with rotting trash, human waste, and rodents, and were breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. The smell, a mixture of filth and decay, remains etched in my mind.
As I got to know the city better I began to realize the vast disparity between the rich and the poor, caused largely by the thirty-year civil war and a government plagued with corruption. The rich lived in luxury villas, ate at beachside restaurants, and had superyachts while the rest of the population lived in squalor I didn’t think was possible. I admired the Angolans for their resilience, resourcefulness, and creativity 一 from building their own homes with limited materials to finding creative ways to make money. Street vendors sold anything and everything whilst walking through the constant gridlock of traffic.
While living in Angola, I was enrolled at the Luanda International School, a true cultural scramble of students: Pakistanis, Brazilians, Namibians, and Azerbaijanis, plus many more. My most memorable event was the annual International Day; everyone wore their national dress, played traditional games, and shared their passion for their native cultures. We received a passport to collect each represented country’s stamp. I participated in activities, learned about history; my personal favorite was trying all the unique foods. For me this was a cultural awakening of new experiences from places I had only known from my world map and flag poster hanging on my bedroom wall. I didn’t realize it then, but now, reflecting upon my time in Angola, I realize it changed my social outlook and how I interact with others. Previously I had always been a shy and introverted child; making friends didn’t come naturally and I resisted trying new things. After I had lived and studied in Luanda for two years, different religions, backgrounds, languages no longer were boundaries. I also became more engaged at school, passionate about learning, and unreserved about meeting new people. It broadened my view of the world and I learned to appreciate the unique perspectives people have.
Angola taught me to always have an open mind and to never shy away from new experiences. I would never have predicted that my time in Africa would have been so enjoyable, but the truth is that I loved almost every second of it, and it taught me that you can find love anywhere doing anything. Since Angola, I have navigated three additional relocations, first to Romania, back to Scotland, and finally to Colorado. Starting from scratch at a new school, making new friends, and assimilating to local cultures no longer makes me anxious. I am eager to learn new things and further develop my knowledge and understanding of the world. After experiencing the city of Luanda, I have grown a lifetime goal of wanting to create solutions to help people. The drive of the Angolans to think outside the box to improve their lives has inspired me to become an engineer and one day create something that helps those living in developing countries.