The Decade Ahead by Ian

The Decade Ahead by Ian - December 2015 Scholarship Essay

Ten years has nearly passed twice in my lifetime, and in the blink of an eye, it will have passed again. With the first decade of my life, I went from a twelve pound poop machine to a semi-functioning pre-teen with a knack for math and a love for all things Star Wars. As for the decade thus far, it has been mostly spent worrying about the decade ahead of me. Ten years is a long time to learn and grow, and I plan on taking full advantage of the years ahead to get to the place I want to be, which, ideally, will be a successful engineer with a life of my own.

Being an avid video gamer, my dad is often quick to remind me to find a career that will allow me to make enough money to pursue my real hobbies. Considering playing video games all day isn’t such a realistic career path, I opted for the next best thing, engineering. Using my brain to problem solve and create has been an interest of mine since an early age. Even while on the little league baseball team in my youth, I found myself more concerned with trying to figure out why the ball went the ways it did, than actually hitting the thing. Now, I am nowhere to be seen near the baseball field, and am frequently holed up in my room challenging my brain with a variety of video games instead.

To me, the logical next step in life is to take these skills and interests I have developed in the past 17 years and turn them into a career that will allow me to sustain me and my family. Engineering is the path I want to take, and my education will be the key. With a higher education, I will be able to fulfill my future dreams of working in a field that satisfies me both cognitively and monetarily.

In ten years, I won’t be worrying about my future anymore. I won’t be worrying about my children’s futures either. Instead I’ll be worrying about whether or not Star Wars will make more movies after episode 9, or I’ll worry about which game I should buy first at any given time. As a successful engineer, life will be about more than paying the bills and getting by. It will be about living my life to its fullest with the help of a career that I love.