ANDRESGARCIA CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Thispast semester hasbeenoneof themost meaningful onesinmy collegiatecareer.Earlier in theyear,I joinedCornell?sLaboratory for Advanced Materialsand ManufacturingwhereI designed and built twoprototypesthat induceultrasonic vibrationstotheadditivemanufacturingprocess I learnedalot about theengineeringdesignprocess, fromcreating3D modelstoactually manufacturing eachprototype Thisfall,I wasfinally ableto begin testingmy prototypesinorder tocharacterizetheir effects My researchexperiencehasshownmehow muchI liketodesignand buildmachinesandhow important it isto further my education.After speakingwithmy advisor,I decidedto apply to graduateschool at Cornell Halfway throughthesemester,I got accepted into Cornell?sMaster of EngineeringProgramasanearly admit I will bestudyingaerospaceengineeringwith aconcentrationindesign I beginmy master?sclasses thiscomingspringandwill begraduatingwithmy advanceddegreeinthefall of 2023.Around the sametime,I wasalsoaccepted intotheCornell EngineeringLeadershipProgram Thisisayear-long programthat focusesondevelopingprofessional leadershipskillsthroughahands-onproject,multiple retreats,andtwoclasseswhereI can practicethese skills Bothof theseprogramswill helpmewithmy aspirationstooneday holdahigh-level positionat an innovativeaerospacecompany

Thissemester I chosetofocusprimarily onmy academics I attendedmany different networking eventstospeak withprofessorsandindustry advisorsabout thebenefitsof graduateschool Althoughit hasbeenachallengingsemester,it has alsobeenavery rewardingone All of thishasbeen possiblebecauseof thesupport that MVYouthhas givenme I ambeyondthankful for everythingthat youhavedone