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Submission information
Submission Number: 262
Submission ID: 968
Submission UUID: 1b7cb08a-d415-450d-9e74-1d275fce7450
Created: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 16:29
Completed: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 16:29
Changed: Tue, 05/06/2025 - 15:48
Remote IP address: 66.96.0.11
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Flagged: Yes
Locked: Yes
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James
Layer
He/him
Ringwood
IL
United States
60072
Computer Science/Engineering
English 5, Croatian 3, Spanish 2
I am very fortunate to have been able to travel not only around the United States, but around the world as much as I have. My family vacations are pretty atypical and instead of relaxing on a beach somewhere, you can typically find us skiing at the Vail Resorts or camping in the Adirondacks in New York. We always like to try out new things in order to gain more experience with the different people, environments, and cultures we interact with on each trip.
My mother was born and raised in Yugoslavia before their civil war. In order to avoid the destruction, she came to the US with her sister to receive her education in a safer environment and make a better life for herself - a task that she completed successfully. Now, years alter, I am able to visit my relatives in (present day) Croatia. A large part of my summers as a kid were spent living with my grandparents and cousins. As a result, I have become quite fluent in Croatian. And while it was a vacation and I had a lot of fun, I also learned a lot about other cultures as well.
The accumulation of my travels and experiences have allowed me to understand and see the world from other perspectives, not just a Western perspective. It’s important to understand that other people think differently, especially when you are working together on a team or you are completing a project requested by someone with a specific set of standards. In order to make the world a better place you must understand what everyone involved envisions that to be, and with more experience with others from different backgrounds, it makes it that much easier to succeed in that mission.
My mother was born and raised in Yugoslavia before their civil war. In order to avoid the destruction, she came to the US with her sister to receive her education in a safer environment and make a better life for herself - a task that she completed successfully. Now, years alter, I am able to visit my relatives in (present day) Croatia. A large part of my summers as a kid were spent living with my grandparents and cousins. As a result, I have become quite fluent in Croatian. And while it was a vacation and I had a lot of fun, I also learned a lot about other cultures as well.
The accumulation of my travels and experiences have allowed me to understand and see the world from other perspectives, not just a Western perspective. It’s important to understand that other people think differently, especially when you are working together on a team or you are completing a project requested by someone with a specific set of standards. In order to make the world a better place you must understand what everyone involved envisions that to be, and with more experience with others from different backgrounds, it makes it that much easier to succeed in that mission.
My ideal hallmate is someone who is respectful of their surroundings. As someone who plays an instrument, I understand it’s impossible to stay quiet at all times and I know that every so often there's going to be an issue, but nobody's perfect. In situations like this, my ideal hallmate would handle it with a cool head and with respect. If they are asked to quiet down they will and if they made a mess they would clean it up. But I would never want to interfere with their work. If they are working on a project that has any potential benefits, I would try to help them instead of hinder them from doing so, and I’d expect them to do the same for me. Lastly, but most importantly, my ideal hallmate is someone who is fun to be around. Someone who works hard, then plays hard. College is meant to further our education, but it wouldn't be the same without some late nights playing video games with friends. And I wouldn't mind someone who also plays an instrument, we’d just have to try our best to be respectful of everyone else in the residence hall.
I feel like everyone in the Global Engineering RAP will be very smart and dedicated people. They will all be intelligent hard workers with different backgrounds working on projects to make the world a better place. I personally believe that the best way to learn is through hands-on experiences in a healthy environment you enjoy being in. The more I learn and the more experience I obtain, the better off I am in the future and the more opportunities will be available to me.
I do not, however, expect everything to go perfectly smoothly while at the Global Engineering RAP. With that many people all coming from different backgrounds, there are bound to be disputes and arguments over something eventually. I am not exempt from this either; I’m sure that somewhere along the way I will find someone I disagree with and will argue that a different approach is necessary. Fortunately, I have spent the last eight years of my life as a Boy Scout, and I recently earned scouting’s highest rank: Eagle. As an Eagle Scout, I have proven myself to be a good leader and that I can work with others to reach a common goal, even if there are disagreements among us. It’s essential for every team to have a few members with exemplary leadership skills in order to operate efficiently and complete the jobs they are expected to do well and I believe that that is the biggest thing that I could contribute to the Global Engineering RAP.
I do not, however, expect everything to go perfectly smoothly while at the Global Engineering RAP. With that many people all coming from different backgrounds, there are bound to be disputes and arguments over something eventually. I am not exempt from this either; I’m sure that somewhere along the way I will find someone I disagree with and will argue that a different approach is necessary. Fortunately, I have spent the last eight years of my life as a Boy Scout, and I recently earned scouting’s highest rank: Eagle. As an Eagle Scout, I have proven myself to be a good leader and that I can work with others to reach a common goal, even if there are disagreements among us. It’s essential for every team to have a few members with exemplary leadership skills in order to operate efficiently and complete the jobs they are expected to do well and I believe that that is the biggest thing that I could contribute to the Global Engineering RAP.
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