Submission Number: 272
Submission ID: 978
Submission UUID: baa679a0-9487-4a97-add4-2c76a445c943

Created: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 20:30
Completed: Fri, 04/15/2022 - 20:30
Changed: Tue, 05/06/2025 - 02:00

Remote IP address: 2601:280:c781:8ec0:26:cb0f:1cd0:ccc6
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No

Locked: Yes
{Empty}
Ali
Haroon
He/Him
Aurora
Colorado
United States of America
80016
Computer Science/Software Engineering
English (5), Spanish (3), Urdu (3)
I’ve been granted the great opportunity to go on vacation to my home country of Pakistan with my parents throughout my childhood. Travel is often seen as a right by many middle-class Americans, yet most people in the world live their whole lives in their home country or even their hometown. I’ve visited Pakistan twice, once when I was about 5 years old and another time when I was 12. Initially, I was a little kid having fun with my cousins. However, I vividly remember the stark contrast between Pakistan and the United States. When I would get off the plane at the Karachi airport, I would instantly see dozens of military personnel with assault rifles patrolling the airport. It was a shock and juxtaposed my views of an airport, but I dismissed it early on. As I went to my Nani’s (Grandmother) house, I noticed even more differences between the U.S. and Pakistan. Primarily, the quality of living seemed worse than my privileged life in America. The rickshaw, a doorless vehicle with 3 wheels, was the primary mode of transportation for Pakistanis. While it was fascinating to traverse in a vehicle so different from the cars in America, I was scared because of their lack of doors and “janky” build compared to the cars I was used to driving. At this time, I realized that my life in America might be shared by many, but it would be seen as “king-like” in Pakistan. This was further solidified in my mind as I got to my grandmother’s apartment building. On one hand, most people in Karachi lived in apartments so that was common. Yet, on the other hand, generators were often bought by most tenants because the power would go out so often in peoples’ apartments. This newfound knowledge of huge generators shook my world. I’ve maybe had one or two power outages in my whole life at that point, yet in Pakistan, it was a daily occurrence. I had many shocks in Pakistan, some intrigued me but some made me furious at the modern world. Inequality for billions of people while a small minority celebrates comfort has always inspired me to cause change. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, yet my endeavors in computer science combined with that and my time in Pakistan all have led me to pursue Global Engineering. With efficient and innovative engineering in foreign countries, real change can be achieved and inequality can be decreased. While cliche, I’ve always aspired to enact change in the world as a whole and not just in the U.S. I believe my time in my home country provided a unique outlook on the world around me and it prepared me for the Global Engineering RAP by providing inspiration for me to pursue equality throughout the world.
Often, most people aim to room with someone that is very similar to them or they choose to live with their friends. However, I would love to be in an environment where I have similar interests with other people but also differences that allow me to have a new perspective on the world from people with different backgrounds yet the same age. When I meet someone who completely changes my outlook on life, they’re often much older than me or much younger than me. However, having 74 other driven students with varying cultural backgrounds allows for an even deeper understanding of diversity than I already have. However, I also value comfortability with those around me. From playing video games to working out together, I want to have roommates and friends that allow me to be my true self socially but also mentally. In high school, I surrounded myself with friends who had similar interests to me, but also similar goals to me. We’ve always had healthy competition in games and activities as well as school classes. I’ve constantly improved in high school because of my friends’ ability to drive me to be better. On the other hand, I’ve always been grateful for my friends as they have constantly enabled me to push the border of my comfort zone. Primarily, my friends have always helped me face my fears. From being scared of heights to public speaking, those around me have consistently pushed me to be myself. I used to be extremely soft-spoken and shy, yet the only reason I’ve done DECA and become an officer of clubs has been because of my parents, siblings, and my school friends that molded me into a more confident me. At the same time, my friends also have similar values regarding aiding the world primarily through our senior projects yet also our volunteering in and out of school. While being comfortable with myself and those surrounding me is important to me, I also don’t want to live in a bubble where I don’t explore around me. I believe that other applicants and students in the Global Engineering RAP share this value of exploring ourselves and the world and I value this belief greatly and this RAP would significantly allow me to explore this idea. In some short words, my ideal person to live down the hall from me would be a genuine friend that drives me to be a better person while also allowing me to be comfortable with my true self.
Engineering is often seen as a career that mainly deals with physical designs of infrastructure. However, I seek to utilize computer science and software engineering in the system science field of Global Engineering. Communication is often overlooked in first-world countries like the United States. However, over one billion people in the world lack access to mobile phones. Because of this, many people are often uninformed about the world around them but also uninformed about the whole globe. With increased communication, the world can be more connected and efficient as a whole. Similarly, system sciences often require large amounts of data analysis, and my senior project as well as my FBLA events have dealt with data analysis to the point where I aim to surround my computer science knowledge with data analysis. By being able to work with students in the system science field of Global Engineering, I can expand my knowledge in this field while also being able to contribute through my computer science expertise. Similarly, the environment of the Global Engineering RAP provides added motivation to follow my goals in the system science field as being surrounded by like-minded goal-driven individuals fosters motivation. In this way, this RAP can significantly contribute to my learning and training as an engineer by providing me with unique opportunities to expand my knowledge as well as easily accessible outlets to speak and discuss engineering issues. Similarly, engineering is very broad, and I believe the global engineering RAP will represent that well. Because of this, there may not be a significant amount of computer science and system science-related students in this RAP. I would aim to contribute by informing members about my endeavors in the area of Global Engineering as well as getting members to join these endeavors themselves. With so many well-qualified students there often is distrust or bitterness towards each other. By indicating support of others as well as getting members in the community to interact with each other academically and socially, the RAP will be more connected and successful in achieving everyone’s individual and collective goals of supplying the world with safety whether it be in clean water to safe infrastructure and communication outlets.
{Empty}