Attaining a higher education as a student that comes from a low-income family has been one of my greatest achievements as an individual. I am a first-year student as well as first generation in my family to go to college. Where I grew up opportunities of studying abroad is merely unheard of. Harlingen, Texas is where I have lived my entire life and is today considered the poorest city in the nation. On many occasions we are predominantly Latino and don’t come from much. We value and appreciate the little things we have, and try our hardest to take advantage of every opportunity set before us. Struggle is second nature to me, but I also know what it is to beat those struggles. I’ve only fantasized about traveling, because my family never had …show more content…
I truly hope to gain a greater understanding of myself and the culture I will be surrounded by. I know the class I will be taking will lay the foundation for my engineering classes in the future. And what better way to acquire knowledge while completely submerging myself in a foreign atmosphere that expresses the same interest as you. I know how to work hard with lack of resources, but now that unlimited resources are available to me at UT I can constantly seek growth in wisdom and knowledge while surpassing challenges that will equip me for my future aspirations. Living in this new environment at UT has truly been an eye opening experience itself. In today’s economy it is essential to build connections and relationships with other countries. With the Gilman Scholarship, I hope to be provided with the amazing chance of accomplishing these …show more content…
My circumstances will not define me and I will strive to be greater than average. My drive to explore beyond my immediate environment comes from not having much and this experience will be far more exhilarating than anything else before me. Academics isn’t the only focus in Croatia, because we will also be developing ourselves as professionals gaining stronger networking skills, and learning how to interact with internationals effectively. The students will learn how to collaborate as a team when working together in class four hours a day and prioritize their time efficiently while being responsible adults. As they began to mold us into professional engineers it is essential for us to build a community both academically and