My desire to become a civil engineer bloomed in my first trip to Yosemite National Park, where my second grade self was introduced to the beauties of the natural world. There, as I slept in a rugged canvas cabin, living and breathing nature for the first time, nature seeped into my blood. The proximity opened my ears to the minute details, a pollen pod bursting as it reaches the floor, sap glistening as it hardens on bark.
Whenever I returned from Yosemite, my senses would be dazed, full of pine and sunlight. Perhaps, because of powerful impact of Yosemite, I always noted drastic differences between my home, Silicon Valley, and Yosemite, even in just the atmosphere. The cities had little natural beauty, replacing trees with dull metal cages rising from the ground. As I visited Yosemite more often, the juxtaposition grew increasingly striking. Urbanization and fossil fuels ruled the world, and in my elementary schooler’s mindset, I needed to stop the bad guy.
…show more content…
At this point in time, I have accepted global warming as an inevitable phenomenon that can not be stopped. Still, the disease can be slowed, and I believe studying civil engineering, my preferred major, would help. Building the structures that produce clean energy or released smog, civil engineers help control the level of pollution in the world. After further inspection, I learned of LEED credentials, which signify the knowledge, experience, and credibility of the engineer in question in the green structures market after passing an exam. Since I plan on pursuing those credentials after graduation, I would begin to take steps to protect the environment. I need to become an civil engineer if I want to help save the earth, and university is the first step toward that