Mentorship Write Up

My profile: Over the past several years of my life, I’ve developed a passion for creating things through engineering projects. As I got older and older, I realized this was what I planned to do for the rest of my life. This has led me to become heavily involved in our school’s robotics program which has allowed me to challenge myself to design and build robots to compete with other students. My designs have gotten better and more successful the more I’ve learned. In April of 2016, my team and I even earned a spot to compete at the VEX Robotics World Championships against teams from over 33 other countries where we got to see how our robot compared to some of the very top teams from around the world. The same year, I was selected through a rigorous application and interview process to attend the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program to attend engineering classes over the summer with some of the best and brightest kids from around the state. My senior year I was elected President of the VEX Robotics Program, which has allowed me to give back to the program that has given so much to me. There’s nothing more satisfying than working hands on to design and create something new and innovative, which is why I have chosen the engineering pathway.

My Internship: For my internship I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to job shadow one of my previous engineering teachers. I work with him at North Forsyth Middle School where I learn just what it takes to teach middle schoolers the basic foundations of engineering, and work on projects in the lab. At my job I get to work with industry standard machinery like the CNC Laser Engraver, 3D design software, and shop tools. In addition, I help mentor the robotics teams which allows me to share my knowledge and experiences with the younger students. My goal is to help provide them with an enriching experience, inspire them to pursue their own engineering endeavors, and share the same opportunities I’ve been fortunate enough to have through robotics. Outside of just helping teach the students, it gives me the opportunity to learn more myself from someone with real experience in engineering.

My Future: Next year I plan to go to college and pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. My internship has been extremely valuable in the aspect that it’s given me valuable insight as to what a job in the field might look like. It has also broadened my horizons and made me consider coming back to teach the next generation of engineers at some point during my career.