My Mentor Personal Statement

While I come from an agriculturally-focused family, my interests as a young boy were divided between aviation and computers. At the age of 13, I began to focus more on my digital hobbies after a neighbor offered to assist me in learning the art of programming. During the next few years, he mentored me in software development using primarily C# with the .NET Framework. In that time, I created a collection of small personal applications and games as I experimented with code and concepts. At age 17, I became interested in interacting with the physical world through the digital one with the use of microcontrollers. With the Internet and a copious amount of trial-and-error, I taught myself a functional understanding of electrical engineering. I completed several smaller projects, such as controllers for lights, motors, and servos, to gain experience for attempting more complex projects, like metal detectors and electro-magnetic propulsion systems. My additional skills have allowed me to assist high-school students with Arduino-powered science fair projects, which included a tracking solar panel and an autonomous collision-avoiding robot.

My employment history has consisted chiefly of helping with the hydroponic systems on the family farm, Portwood Gardens. More recently, however, I have been working with Ivy Tools, an online distributor of various buildings diagnostic …show more content…
As a career, I intend to become a firmware engineer since I have a hybrid background in both software and hardware. I enjoy overcoming technical challenges and making things better. While I have gained some experience on my own, an internship would put more professional experience under my belt and allow me to directly or indirectly gain more advanced knowledge relating to the field of computer