1. Think about your gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, special abilities or disabilities, age, socioeconomic status, religion, birth order and any other influences that come to mind.  How have these factors influenced your personality and learning preferences?

I have been rather fortunate to be honest. I am a middle class, white, tall (6' 2"ish), straight, male, with no real disabilities, in a region with many opportunities. If I had been born even just 50 years ago, my life would definitely be much better than my peers, for these reasons specifically. I was fortunate to have an older brother and an older sister which allowed me to watch how they succeed and learn from their mistakes so I hopefully wouldn't repeat them (even though I typically have).



I prefer to learn from hands on experiences, and that is always the way it has been for me. I learned how the engine of a car operates - not by taking a class or by reading about it. However, I learned all of this by repairing problems in my car and in my friends cars. You could have told me how it works, and I would have retained some of the information, but until I actually worked on it, I wouldn't have a full understanding like I do now. This opportunity would have most likely not been available if I were from a poor family, as I would not have been able to afford the parts. I also probably wouldn't have had this opportunity if I were from a very wealthy family. This is only because if I were able to pay somebody else to do it all, I probably would have just done that instead. Or I would have bought a car that had no problems. This is just one example, but by being in a middle class family, I have actually had more opportunities to learn from real world experiences than probably most of my peers have.


Being raised the way I have has also made me a very outgoing person. I have nobody that I am truly afraid of so I don't have issues talking to people I don't know. I have very little shame, so when others judge me, it really doesn't bother me. I was fortunate enough to have my brother and sister show me that it really doesn't make any difference in your life what another person thinks about you, as long as you have good intentions inside.

2. Write your own personal mission statement. What is your purpose in life? What values are important to you? What do you want to be? What attributes and capabilities are important to you?

My purpose in life is to help others and to learn. Often time, those two go hand in hand. Friendship is probably my greatest value, but like anybody else, I can probably spit off a list of a thousand values that I believe in. I want to be happy. I believe that pursuing my degree of Aerospace Engineering will help me be happy, not because of the income, but because I love learning every day and problem solving. I would like to work on jet engines for a living, and I want to be a good friend to others. The biggest attribute and capability to me is a willingness to learn and curiosity. I probably wouldn't have broken as many things as I have if I weren't curious. But I also wouldn't know as much about them or be able to fix them.