Not many people know what they want to be when they grow up at the age of 9. Even if they think they do, they change their minds numerous times before growing up. On the other hand, I only dreamt of being one thing my whole entire life: a computer programmer/engineer.
Studying engineering is very hard and not a lot of people can handle it, especially in school like UCLA. For me, I transferred from Cal Poly Pomona knowing that UCLA is going to be harder for me and more competitive than Cal Poly. Why did I choose such a hard way? Because, for what I will achieve from my effort right now studying at harder/better school will take me one more step towards to my goal. But... what is my goal?
Until middle school, I didn’t have a specific reason why I wanted to be an engineer. I just liked the computer and playing with them. It was like having a dream without a goal. But my mind set has changed completely when I met this person from other part of the world.
When I was in 7th grade, I met this guy named Sameer. When he told me about his country, I was completely shocked about what he said. “I barely saw any computers in my life when I was living in my country (Yemen)”. When I heard that, I was too naïve and young to accept the fact that there is a country that does not have computers because they are so poor. After I met him I researched about the underdeveloped countries and found out there are a lot more countries like Yemen. This incident opened my eyes to the world that needs my help.
Computers make the world an easier and better place to live. Computer is a contemporary cultural trend. It’s a thing that “I must have or I die”. I believe that computer should help cultures interact and bring benefit for all the people. However, I see many countries that are behind in technology and have difficulty keeping up with other countries. As a result, valuable aspects of cultures in underdeveloped countries are pitifully unknown to other people in the world. I want to use my computer talent to introduce unknown aspects of one culture to another.
Why do I do what I do? Because serving others are not only limited to giving food or money!
Comments