Honduran Roads by Kaitlyn

Honduran Roads by Kaitlyn - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I sit in the bed of a pickup truck being tossed around by the rough Honduran roads. I travel up onto the Merendon Mountain waving hello to everyone I saw. My white shirt now brown from all the dust kicked up by the truck. We arrive at the top of the mountain. I take a moment to pause and take a deep breath. The clean jungle air fills my lungs and the sight of beautiful flowers and diverse plant life is still so vivid in my mind. The next part of our journey can only be taken by foot. I begin carefully walking on narrow steep paths along the side of the mountain. The woman we are following is just casually making the hike in flip flops with a newborn baby on her hip. While I'm taking baby steps carefully, paying attention trying to avoid falling off the side of the mountain. The views become more and more beautiful with every step. I now understand why someone would want to live up in these mountains. The views make up for the difficulty of living up in the mountains so far from supplies and resources. The people we meet live simple lives and are very creative with the resources that they have. I find it fascinating the ways that they maximize their resources. They work together as a community to find solutions to the problems they face. If one member of the community is struggling, the community bands together to help and find a solution. Some give their time and money to help another family pay for food. Some learn a new skill, like welding or dentistry, then return to serve their community.
Despite the high levels of poverty, the people make all sorts of things out of nothing. I admired how the people made homes made from dumped sheet metal. Churches and medical offices made from shipping containers. Stoves made from aluminum cans. Crafts and art made from anything you can imagine. This got me thinking. “What could I create?” “How could I help people around the world?” “What solutions could I come up with to solve real-world problems?” As I ponder these questions and contemplate what I want to do with my life, the answer becomes clear: engineering. Become an engineer. Engineers help to solve relevant problems. They come up with creative solutions to help people around the world. Whether it be creating a new computer chip, a water retention system, or a prosthetic limb, engineers work to create life changing solutions for the world. I want to create solutions to problems individuals face everyday. I want to help people by working with others to bring solutions to problems.
I have a passion for learning the skills necessary to create solutions to real-world problems. I would make a difference. With the opportunities, support, and resources provided by this institution I would begin to work to bring innovative solutions to people around the world.