Argueta 1

Rudy Argueta
Professor Jackie
English 113A
September 21, 2015
Becoming an Engineer
At seven years old, I started to think about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I
observed many professions and I had the privilege to see scientists experiment, engineers plan,
and lawyers argue. At the time, most of my friends thought I was weird and to be honest I did not
care. Nobody could stop me I set my eyes on engineering and it was what I wanted to do. Rarely
did people think I was cool and I was extremely thankful for that because they believed in me
Around the time I began to choose my profession, my father left my mother. My father
left my mother with two children and financial problems. Although the financial problems were
severe, I had to keep my mind on my studies. Elementary School was my first step in choosing a
profession.
I explored several professions at Van Ness Elementary School but I needed more time to
decide on a career. In the first grade, my teacher took the class to a science museum and I found
the museum was fascinating. Paleontologists, geologists, biologists and engineers worked under
one roof. When the class passed by the work area of these professionals, I was intrigued at the
professionals craftsmanship. They worked their butts off, loved what they did, and made money
doing it. They pursued higher education to obtain their dream job. I had an eye on what engineers
did because they designed projects. They talked about creating a better, more efficient world. I
asked myself, If I want to be an engineer, what kind of engineer should I be? I asked the

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engineers at the museum, Which engineering profession do I choose? They said, Choose the
one that you would like to pursue. From that day on, I decided I would aim to be an engineer.
Entering Le Conte Middle School I frequently asked questions about engineering. When I
was in sixth grade, I was not really interested in anything else besides engineering. Mathematics
was a major priority when I first stepped into middle school. I got As and Bs on the tests,
homework and classwork. I was satisfied with my grades in mathematics in the first few years of
my middle school career.
I continued to keep up my studies because my mother supported me and told me it would
be worth it at the end. My mother is a big supporter of me because I was taking school seriously
and becoming an engineer as well. My family supported me throughout my school years. So
throughout middle school I learned the basics of engineering. I was determined to gain some
knowledge in engineering until culmination. In the late 8th grade, I was introduced to electricity.
The introduction of electricity to me in middle school fascinated me more in high school.
In high school I took full advantage on pursuing my career. In Science Technology
Engineering Math Academy of Hollywood, I signed up for the engineering course. I was
determined that his course would help me get better on understanding the concepts of
engineering of mathematics. By the 10th grade, I had an idea on how college was going to be
because I was introduced to college level engineering. I took a course called Principles of
Engineering. In that course I built a hydrogen fuel cell, which is powered by a breadboard that
connects to electricity. In the 11th grade, I built a circuit board in my Digital Electronics class. If
electrical engineering had to work with this then I had to major in this field. All the engineering
and medical courses are part of the Project Lead The Way program. Project Lead The Way is a

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program that gives college courses in high school. I liked this idea that my high school STEM
offers this program because it is important that students get a chance to experience college.
During my personal time I like to what is called reverse engineering because it is a
process that involves a product, disassembling it, and making it better. There are several products
that I have reverse engineer such as a Plasma TV and a digital watch. The Plasma TV required a
huge thinking process because a Plasma TV has a lot of components. The same goes for the
digital watch but the only difference is that it is a smaller product and requires patience. Working
on these two projects can help me in the future career because of the hard work, determination
and knowledge. My personal work leads to confidence entering college.
Going into college I have reached some experiences that I need in order to become an
electrical engineer. All throughout Elementary, Middle and High School I have encountered
many obstacles in school and my personal life to become what I want to be. These experiences
prepare me to what will come in the future. I am an electrical engineer.