Super Mario Galaxy by Aaron

Super Mario Galaxy by Aaron - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

The cosmos, expanse and wide, all encompassing, and most importantly unknown. My little brain was filled with the wonder of discovering every nook and cranny of this universe. I would imagine riding a boy-sized spaceship and getting up to wacky hijinks while exploring the great beyond. This fascination began with a single game -- Super Mario Galaxy.
I was about 6 years old, my imagination completely at its peak. This is when I got the Wii. I went from galaxy to galaxy meeting penguins and collecting stars. I was Mario when I played. I would jump when he jumped and I would say wahoo the same way he did. I would be both mesmerized and scared at the twinkling backdrop of the game. The screen showed a picture so expansive that I began to get lost in it. Wishing I was in it, I would begin to explore the starry void in my dreams. I became an astronaut, a space pirate, and an alien during the night. Hearing that NASA hasn’t put anyone on the moon since way before my birthdate broke my little heart. Yet I continued dreaming. Years continued like this, until I found (at about 14 years old) the mix of my dreams and of reality -- Aerospace Engineering.
As an aerospace engineer, I want to, just like my dreams as a kid, explore the cosmos and facilitate this exploration. I want to make space travel more viable both economically and environmentally. Gaining a good understanding of all this, will permit me to create solutions to the problems that have plagued me since I was a child. I wish to, in this journey, to see the discoveries of our solar system that will come from creating these solutions and studying the promising technologies of today.