Live to Inspire by Tatem

Live to Inspire by Tatem - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

It’s August 2017, the first week of the fall semester. I sit anxiously in an auditorium waiting for my physics lecture to start. All of a sudden, a guest walks in. It’s Joan Carter, the engineering faculty at Inver Hills Community College. She came to present the engineering opportunities on campus. She mentions an engineering club, I instantly become engaged. On the whiteboard, she writes the time and date of the first club meeting and I quickly write it down in my planner.

Later that week I attended the first engineering club meeting. At the meeting, members discussed the upcoming plans for the semester. I did not feel a connection at the first club meeting and did not attend any other meetings that fall semester. Another reason I did not continue to attend club was that I had self-doubts and believed I was not fit for engineering. I didn’t think I was smart enough and being a minority female made me feel like I did not fit in. My self-doubts stemmed from the fact that I dropped my physics class that fall. I went to the lectures for the first couple of weeks, but I did not understand a thing. I was also struggling quite a bit in my calculus course. These classes required me to think in a way that I was not used to, and I could not get a grip on it.

Joan Carter and I crossed paths again later that fall and she encouraged me to take her Intro to Engineering course in the spring which I agreed to. My hope was to find out if engineering would be a good fit for me. Even though I did not have the best fall semester, Joan encouraged me to proceed with engineering and made sure I knew I was capable of succeeding. These words of encouragement lit a fire beneath me. I continued forward and worked hard to be the best student I could possibly be.

In the following spring semester, I joined the engineering club and attended meetings regularly while taking Joan’s Intro to Engineering course. I not only learned a lot about engineering during this semester but a lot about myself. With the guidance of Joan Carter, I was able to achieve things that I did not think I was capable of and I found myself in a position of pure happiness. I came to the realization that engineering was for me and that I could do it.

If I had not crossed paths with Joan, I would not have had the opportunity to work on the projects that piqued my interest in engineering. I may have even quit during the fall semester because of the difficult time I had. It is Joan that inspires me to pursue engineering. She is such a wonderful role model in my life. Joan is the head of the engineering department at Inver Hills Community College. She teaches all of the engineering courses and is absolutely amazing. It is so inspiring to see a woman lead the engineering department. It makes me want to become a leader myself in the STEM field. I want to encourage young women to join the STEM field to fix the imbalance. It is truly difficult being the minority, but it is worth it. Joan has not only connected me to engineering but many other students like myself. It’s her mission to grow the engineering program at Inver Hills. In the last couple of years, the number of students in the engineering program has doubled since she took over the department. This is due to the hard work and dedication she has devoted to the program.

In the spring of 2018, I was elected to become the president of the engineering club for the 2018-2019 school year. During the summer of 2018, Joan and I worked together to plan projects and activities for the club. Our goal was to connect as many students as possible to engineering and make the club a welcoming place for all. With our hard work and efforts, we did just that. Our first club meeting in the fall was a major success. Every single seat in the room was filled! We had to bring in extra seats to make room for everyone. The club retained most of its members for the year and became the largest club on campus.

I would definitely say that my favorite memories at Inver Hills Community College consist of helping students become connected to engineering. It is a bittersweet feeling to be moving on to the University of Minnesota this fall as I hold Inver Hills very close to my heart. I began my studies at Inver Hills at 16 years old and I will be earning my A.S. in Engineering Fundamentals and Chemistry by the end of this summer. I am eternally grateful for having Joan Carter as my mentor. She has made the biggest impact on my life. As I continue my studies, I will always keep a thought of her on my mind. My dream is to inspire others and make an impact like she has made on me and I will never give up on this dream.