The Humanity of Engineering by Ethan Jesse

The Humanity of Engineering by Ethan Jesse - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

The world of engineering can be best described as one which strives to improve the tools of society through scientific innovation and discovery. Any creation that serves a concrete purpose or function can be considered the result of engineering, from the finest syringe to the grandest of bastions. To be an engineer is to create, and to create is to leave a mark on the world, demanding the attention and remembrance of all who would make use of your work. As such, to be an engineer is my desire in life. More specifically, I would like to be an aerospace engineer, for not even the world’s great sky could serve as a satisfactory limit for me.

Aerospace engineering revolves around the design, creation, and maintenance of airborne technologies, be it spacecrafts, fighter jets, or warheads. It places a large emphasis on kinematics, aerodynamics, and thermodynamics, all of which must be heavily considered when designing something that will glide through the air at unimaginable speeds. Aerospace engineers find their careers in space exploration organizations such as NASA, designing the rockets and satellites which will be sent to the stars, as well as both private and federal military industries that have an ever-growing need to out-compete everyone else in the never-ending arms race for the ability to create the biggest “boom”.

This subject interests me due to how boundless it is in nature. It is my opinion that this field creates some of the closest feats to true fantasy we will ever see, for if one were to show a man from 300 years ago images taken from the Voyager 1 satellite or the sheer destructive might of a “S.A.M.” missile, they may very well view you as an envoy from above. Creation and discovery is everywhere, even down to the pencils and pens which we write with daily. But to witness the stars and command the sky is a feat which few men could ever dream of, yet all would surely covet. If I may contribute in even the slightest of ways to such a cause, I doubt I could shake my interest from it if I tried.

As I’ve said, engineering is creation, and creation is the essence of human living. Whether they admit to it or not, no man is free from the everlasting itch to tinker and build, be it through oil paintings or literature, or something wholly unique to them. Though the strains are very real, and the burden of responsibility will never lighten, there is no world I can see where I could resign myself to let others do the tinkering for me.

Engineering is not a Holy Grail for me. There very well could have been a world where I wrote novels for a living, or simply studied what was presented to me. I cannot pretend like this field was “designed” for me, or the only “thing” that could ever catch my interest. But then, when I sit and ponder for a bit, this is what I enjoy. I find pleasure in repairs and the ideas which come to me, be it in the middle of work or deep in the night. And in pleasure, there is no work, but only passion and delight. A passion to create, among the sky and the stars, will be my motivation until the end, no matter which form it takes.