From a young age, I sought to understand the world around me and how I would fit into it. I had many interests with one unifying thread: I wanted to serve others. I was initially drawn to the medical field, as I knew of the great need for medical professionals in international communities. However, after coming to the University of Florida (UF), I joined the Engineers Without Borders Nepal Team and my perspective began to change. As I learned about our partner community and their water needs that lead to illness and poor school attendance, I soon realized that the illnesses I desired to treat one day as a medical professional in international communities were symptoms of much larger problems. If I wanted to contribute to an improved quality of life for others, I would need to learn how to treat the source: poor water quality, insufficient sanitation, unreliable clean energy resources.

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The UF Engineers Without Borders Nepal Team introduced me to humanitarian engineering as a potential vocation. On this team, we worked to decrease school absences due to waterborne illnesses by providing a rainwater collection and purification system to our partner secondary school in Khanalthok, Nepal. I loved the passion expressed by my teammates and their concerns for the ethical, environmental, and cultural implications of our project – but I had never been exposed to information about these concerns before, and wanted to ensure that whatever service I may provide one day would be ethical, just, and sustainable. I declared a minor in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance and joined the International Scholars Program (ISP) and was given the resources to learn from others’ service abroad through Campus Life Engagement events with people who previously served in both the Peace Corps and Fulbright Scholars programs.

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My coursework in Waste Management in Developing Countries and International Humanitarian Assistance and experience with ISP equipped me well to serve as the first Education Lead for the Nepal Team. Through research and thinking critically about cultural influences on school attendance in Nepal, my subteam learned about existing taboos around menstruation that prevent many female students from continuing their education past puberty. In a local partnership with the Days For Girls organization in Alachua, I organized an initiative to provide 130 menstruation kits to female students at our partner school in Khanalthok to remove one barrier from educational access for those female students.

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This school year, I served as the Team Lead for the Nepal Team. Gaining skills in team management, coordinating with both Engineers Without Borders-USA and our community partners, and having the experience of traveling to our newest partner community in Phoolbari, Nepal, in the summer of 2019 was incredibly enriching in many ways. I was especially stretched in my communication skills through coordinating both stateside with our UF team and with our community partners abroad, then finally seeing our hard work become realized firsthand. This experience reminded me of the importance of community relations and empowering the community to drive development in change, as our partners are entrusted with maintaining our hard work long after our Engineers Without Borders partnership agreement has ended.

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I spent the summer of 2019 in Amman, Jordan, with a study abroad program that explored sustainable engineering solutions for the unique needs arising from the refugee crisis in this resource-scarce country.  The two months I spent with my host family and engineering cohort showed me that engineers, policymakers, and community organizations must work together to be effective in creating the change they wish to see and has affirmed my passion for humanitarian engineering.

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A desire to work in sustainable innovation led me to pursue an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, as I believe this path will grant me the skills to interpret the challenges our world faces today, as well as the means to tackle them.  In order to further specialize and equip myself to work internationally, I will be continuing my education as a master’s student in mechanical engineering at UF with a certificate in solar energy. My coursework and experiences with the International Scholars Program have largely shaped me and helped me gain a practical understanding of the ethical, social, and economic considerations that will affect my technical work as an engineer. I am passionate and industrious, and I am confident that as an engineer and ISP Graduate, I am well equipped with the hands-on skills necessary to grow as a creative problem solver and compassionate global citizen.