Submission Number: 256
Submission ID: 962
Submission UUID: 2020333d-32fc-43bf-a958-8ab83a21f0e9

Created: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 13:38
Completed: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 13:38
Changed: Thu, 05/08/2025 - 07:39

Remote IP address: 75.216.232.81
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No

Locked: Yes
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Emerson
Ostrander
she/her
Denver
CO
United States of America
80211
Aerospace Engineering
English (5), Spanish (4)
In September 2019, I had the privilege of visiting Guatemala on a school trip. The main purpose of the trip: to immerse in the country’s rich culture, but also to learn about inequitable access to education, especially for girls. The MAIA Impact School in Sololá, Guatemala is an all-girls school committed to breaking the barrier to education for girls. Having attended an all-girls school myself for nearly five years, the topic of girls education had become one especially meaningful to me. When I got the chance to visit the MAIA Impact School, I saw how initiatives and missions such as those at MAIA made real, sustainable change. The school was led by indigenous women, for indigenous women, and instituted resources such as school gardens and solar panels that sustainably addressed the limited resources they had. I was awestruck by the capabilities of the school, and the fact that its offerings and resources changed the lives of countless girls in the area. The experience opened my eyes to the possibilities of success, when resources are engineered to be accessible and sustainable, and in turn, allow for prosperous futures.
Down the hall is a passionate individual, passionate not just for engineering, but engineering for humanity. They are collaborative, introspective, and eager to explore the extents of engineering. While they care deeply about the work they do, they also care about their community, and know the value of collaboration and the relationships they establish. They say “hi” to you in the hall, join you for breakfast, and when you’re not working on projects together, they’ll make time to hike The Flatirons with you. They are eager to acquire new skills, and learn and grow as an individual, continuously bettering themselves through their interactions. Likewise, they can share their own experiences and values and offer new ideas to those around them. And they are an engineer. They problem-solve, and apply their skills in new and profound ways, and they ask how their skills and their community can work to benefit all of humanity. They are a well-rounded individual, determined to make the most out of their experience, while encouraging those around them to do the same along the way.
I am a woman who’s attended an all-girls school for five years. I’ve lived in a big, culturally diverse city my whole life. I’ve grown an appreciation for the intersectionality of knowledge through the International Baccalaureate program. And I’ve had the privilege to not only learn about social injustices around the world and in my communities, but take an active stand in addressing them, through clubs, travel experiences, and collaboration with various individuals and groups. These are the experiences that have shaped me into who I am and what I value. It is a true passion of mine to take whatever knowledge and skills I acquire in the coming years to apply them towards something good– something that will make me a better person, and will also contribute to the efforts of creating a more equitable and sustainable world. I firmly believe that engineers will set the foundation for the future, and that is a narrative I intend to include myself in. As a member of the Global Engineering RAP at CU Boulder, I can be exposed to new and valuable ideas, and be part of a community that cares and collaborates to create meaningful change. Additionally, I hope to learn how to appreciate and apply engineering skills in different contexts, that will help me learn and grow as an engineer, and also as a person. I’ll gain new skills, new understanding, and new communities, that will all contribute to my understanding of not only what it means to be an engineer in the world, but what it means to be a person in the world. I intend to continuously test the limits of my knowledge, and establish relationships with like-minded, but also diverse people. I plan to collaborate, and learn, and with each interaction and project, offer my best self, and provide a space for others to do the same.
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