#mycalling by Alexander

#mycalling by Alexander - April 2018 Scholarship Essay

I chose the hashtag “#mycalling” for my title because I believe that everyone, no matter how great or small, has something for which they live for, a reason for why they were created the way they were. Everyone has a calling placed upon their lives. Some are called to do great big things that seemingly change the world with one swift motion, while others are called to do the simple everyday things that help keep individual lives running. Neither is more important than the other. Both are what keep this world moving in the direction that it is moving at the moment. In fact, without the little everyday things that keep us living, the big things would not be able to happen. Through every act, everyone has the power to empower others; to give them a reason to live, and a way of finding their calling on their lives.
Nowadays, a college education is required in order to gain a certain status and give one the ability to do certain tasks. This turns out to be the case with me. I believe that my calling involves doing missionary-type work in underdeveloped locations such as countries in Africa, and South-Central America. The type of work that I am hoping to accomplish requires me to focus on my studies in engineering beforehand. With my degree, I want to be able to create, innovate, and manipulate technology in a way that improves the daily lives of those that I am trying to help. Through these acts, it is my wish that I would be able to increase the hope and transform the lives of those that I am trying to affect. I often wondered what exactly I wanted to do after I had completed high school. Originally, my mind was solely focused on living out a casual, easy-going life that would involve a good paying job and the start of a happy family with whom I would spend the rest of my life with. However, I realized during my first two semesters of college that I was meant to do so much more than that. Time and time again I was told that I had so much potential as an engineer to do good in the world. Looking at the type of projects offered at Messiah College, I realized the needs of people around the world are so much greater than my own. I asked myself: “Why be an engineer to build bridges in the United States, when the United States already has more than enough bridges? A lot of places in Central America do not even have bridges.” I am not trying to discourage anyone from building and innovating bridges in the United States because I agree that the trade is very important in maintaining safe roadways in this country. I only said that because that is what got me to think about other countries that would need my help, possibly more so than this country, and giving me a further reason to become an engineer. Of course, I am still hoping to start my own family at some point; a family that would support me in what I am striving to accomplish. Now, I look forward to doing mission-type work in Africa. One of my visions is to help dig wells for those that are in need of a fresh supply of water. A lot of times, in order to get water, the village people would have to walk down to the nearest source, most likely a river of some sort, in order to get water. This could take over and hour or so. I want to decrease that strain on people’s lives, and create a source of water that would not require so much grueling work. At the same time, as mentioned above, I would be looking to increase hope and transform the lives of those I am trying to help, also giving them a reason to look forward to the future, and realize that they have a calling on their lives, no matter how big or small they may seem.