Why Major X - Environmental Engineering

A Boy Scout project, a club, and an internship have put me on the path to a career in environmental engineering. Every Earth Day, from fourth grade to seventh grade, my Boy Scout cleaned up the area around a local pond. Although our efforts mattered, that pond didn’t become safe to swim in until the state used a new technology – a very cool pollution-eating microbe. In high school, I joined Project Green, a project-based club focused on making a more eco-friendly school and community. Our greatest accomplishment has been a project that resulted in the installation of solar panels to provide energy to the school – saving the school $2,400 on electricity each year and making our community more environmentally responsible. Last summer, I landed an internship that gave me the opportunity to do field testing of environmental equipment measuring air pollution. The results blew my mind; the science was incontrovertible. Our local air was terrible. Together, these three experiences have convinced me I must pursue a career in environmental engineering in order to make a difference to the long-term viability of our planet.