ENGR 103 is Baller

Because of ENGR 103, I have decided to continue taking Spanish (and to minor in it), I plan to study abroad, and I plan to work with EPICS. I signed up for an EPICS course next semester and I'm so pumped. I'm also way more open to traveling to different places. I'm going to China for New Years and I can't wait!!!!! Before this class, I'll admit that I was probably a little bit racist against China. I would've never gone there for fun (sorry I really hope I don't offend anybody). Even my family is freaked out that I'm going because they don't trust the government. But because of this class, I've realized that a lot of information presented by the media is very skewed and biased. I've now identified China as somewhere I'd really like to go! I never thought that I'd have the opportunity to go to any Asian country, and my friend from Shanghai invited me so I jumped at the opportunity. I hope that I get to learn more about China when I'm there because, as I've realized, I don't know much about it. Because of this, I'm very thankful that I was placed in this learning commuity. Additionally, I've made some really great friends who I know I'll stay close to for the rest of college and beyond. I can't really think of anything this learning community didn't provide me with, except maybe free money and/or tuition. hahaha I'd love that! Love you all! :)

Study Abroad

I've learned that engineering's future is global, and that global aspect is needed to compete in the engineering world. With the help of the class engineering 103, I know for a fact that I am going to study abroad at least once during my years at Purdue. Even though I know Japanese I want to learn Portuguese. I can't even imagine how much fun it will be to go somewhere like Greece, Italy, Brazil or Australia. Why are there so many to choose from? I'm going to have to think about it a lot, but for sure at least once. I am pretty sure that I am going to drop one of my classes for next semester, so I have an open spot for a general ed class. I already have credit in Japanese but I still might take Portuguese one. Will it be hard? I'm pretty sure it will be one of the harder classes because I know learning a different language is tough, but what's harder than Purdue Engineering? The learning community was fun and I learned a lot. I just wish that we had more ways to talk about all our differences.

Shoes Off

I have some friends in my residence hall who are full Asian. In Japan and in most Asian countries, you must take your shoes off when you enter anyone's house. My friends just finished cleaning their room and moved their beds around and a few guys from down the hall wanted to come in. They walked in with their shoes on. I looked at my friends and they didn't show much on their face, but I knew that it was different to them, so I politely asked the guys that they should take their shoes off. There were no tensions and they took off their shoes and continued their conversation. Its funny, because I assumed that people knew here because I have American friends from Japan who always take their shoes off when they enter someone's house. I'm completely fine if people make the mistake once or twice, but they just need to learn.

Africa

Africa consists of many resources like mineral ores, petroleum, and arable land but it seems like they are not utilized. Based off one website, there are many foreign countries in Africa "helping" the poor and basically taking these resources free of charge. Africa depends on the West to utilize the resources, but the sad thing is that they take advantage of of the continent and basically steal all the resources. An example is the selling of cocoa beans in the Ivory Coast. They are sold real cheap to the West and then sold expensive to the people in the Ivory Coast. If this system changes, resources can be utilized correctly.

Next is the education and agriculture in Africa. Apparently, the government in Africa do not put much effort into education and agriculture and only care about themselves. If this is true and if the government decided to change its ways of running a country, engineering solutions might work, and resources can be utilized. When it comes to massive investment in foreign aid, all the money does not go to the poor people. Transportation, feeding and other expenses cut into the donations that are given.

Study Abroad

Honestly, I have no idea what kind of study abroad program I would choose. During the week, I received (I’m sure you did too) an email from the Global Engineering Program saying that there were study abroad opportunities in multiple countries. On top of that, there are so many other study programs you can choose. Check out the Study abroad web site. There are over 300 programs. How do you choose?

That‘s not the only concern I have regarding the Study abroad Program. In fact I’m wondering if going to another for a semester will have any effect on my GPA because of different ways of teaching courses. Before coming here, I was in a small French-medium school (So I’m kind of already studying abroad). It took me a few weeks to get know how to learn course efficiently and comprehensively. This adjustment period has cost me a few good grades (e.g in Physics).

I was wondering if this would apply if I went for a Study Abroad.

Study Abroad

I remember one presenter saying that it's nearly impossible to get a job without any international experience. If I could go anywhere, I would go to Spain. I'm obsessed. I went their with my best friend before college started, and I want to have a home there someday. (Along with one in Louisville ;) ). I love everything about Spain! Their food is delicious (I LOVE TAPAS and sangria) and their weather is amazing. If i went there, I would shop, eat, and sleep on the beach by the Mediterranean sea. And I would talk to everyone in Spanish because I love speaking it. Professionally, I have no idea what I would want to do. Everything could be a learning experience. As long as I could practice my Spanish while working, I'd constantly be learning. I would obviously want to stay forever, but I'm not sure that's very practical. I think a few months would be perfect. And then, of course, when I'm older, I'll go there and buy a vacation house. Hopefully I'll get a job in which I can work in both the United States and Spain. I'd like to spend half a year in Spain and half a year in the United States. I'd love to see what Christmas in Spain is like. This fits with my personal goals because I want to meet people from all over the world. I also want to learn more about Europe's history, and I want to be fluent in Spanish. In order to achieve these dreams, I'm going to take Spanish classes here at Purdue and look for any opportunity to go to Spain. I also would love to go to Greece! I have a lot of personal connections there, and I can speak a little Greek (even though it's very limited and is mostly offensive! haha).

International Experience

Even though I have lived overseas my entire life and experienced a totally different culture, I still want to learn more about other countries. I remember that one of the presenters said that in order to succeed you are going to need the experience with a different country. If I can go anywhere I would want to go somewhere in Europe (preferably Italy or Greece) or Australia. The history and the people are what interests me the most about these places, so I would want to receive my education while learning about the country. Time would not be a problem, so I can study abroad for a long time. This definitely fits into my personal and professional goals because I always wanted to travel the world, get my education at the same time, and work somewhere that is not in the United States. I plan to study abroad at least once to achieve this dream. I may also try to co-op and hopefully be able to work somewhere outside the U.S.

Technology in Latin America

The readings were about bringing technology to rural Latin America. These rural areas have a high population of people under poverty. Limited resources do influence energy policy and implementation of technology with not only Latin America but everywhere in the world. The great thing about energy in rural areas is that the source of energy is usually renewable, usually solar or geothermal energy. In Japan it is not only in rural areas, but solar energy is highly used when rural areas need energy. Solar panels are built on rooftops to give families power in rural and urban Japan. This is an example of changing government policies to let more people have access to power in rural areas. Of course there are limitations for every country, but every place needs energy to be competitive in today's world.

Energy Implementation in Latin America

To sum up, the reading assignment talks describes how the Brazilians government had managed to obtain an overall electrification rate of about 98.7 percent.

Now how can limited resources affect energy policies in countries? First of all, it is important to note that limited resource definitely has an impact on energy policies. For example in India, the cost of fuel and the need for more sustainable energy solutions has lead the Indian government to focus on hydro electrical solutions.

Now how do limited resources really influence policies? Well for starters, every country in the world needs energy not only to survive but to be competitive in today’s globalized economy. This leads governments to search for cheap and efficient ways for generating power. This is especially true in developing countries where governments usually lack funding. For example due to hiking fuel prices, and due to the fact that a substantial amount of its electricity came from Diesel generator, the Cambodian resorted to establish a grid linking the neighbouring Vietnamese power grid with its own.

So basically, limited resources lead government to find better solutions.

Social Status symbol

I found case 1.3 particularly interesting. Here, a small technological advance made in numbers completely alters a traditional social structure. Since the missionaries had brought a much better version of the stone axe, the steel axe, in big quantities, the elders no longer are revered for their axes, which were once very rare. The axe, due to intervention of the missionaries, lost its exclusivity hence its value among the Yir Yoront people. It also lost its ability to show high social status

This example is analogous to what I have come to experience during my stay in Cambodia. In Cambodia, a big expensive luxury car is sign of high social status. High ranking officials will “strangely” all have expensive Land cruisers, Lexus or Mercedes. ( I say strangely because Cambodia is a poor country and because government salaries are very low). It is social status symbol.

Now, what prompted me to think about this example, is the following question. Will the car still be a social status symbol as more people in are able to afford expensive cars in Cambodia? Is the car a social status symbol in the US? Or in other developed countries?

Mini-case 1.1

This passage clearly indicates that prior knowledge is needed when traveling to a new area. I don't even know why some people try to go somewhere without knowing a little of the native language or any knowledge about the area. It must of been very frustrating not knowing that the city and country and have the same exact name. I don't like how some people think that speaking slower would solve the problem of a language gap. It must of been very frustrating for the two and the farmer. I know that with prior knowledge and knowing some of the language would be such a big help for any person traveling to a new place.

Our Teachers Can Prevent Us From Success

This article was really interesting. I really like how many different aspects of the problem it helped to define and explain. I can personally relate to this article because of how people judge me. Like the article said, if you’re tall, people often ask you if you play sports. I get asked that question all the time. Most commonly, I’m asked if I play volleyball or basketball. Another common way in which people see me is as a blonde sorority girl. Which, in fact, by coining “blonde sorority girl”, I’m alluding to another stereotype. It’s interesting to see how stereotypes and blindspots affect how we think and experience things. It is also interesting to note that these stereotypes can either allow or prevent people from succeeding. I’ve seen this everywhere, but especially in school. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I can tell that almost all my teachers have judged their students and given grades which have been affected by those judgments. I’ve also seen it in the workplace. This is something that all of us could definitely work on.

Diversity Consciousness

Living overseas and on a military base has taught me many things so far in life. Personally, I have no problem with a person who is diverse, I actually have more friends who are multicultural. I believe that we are all one and all have a purpose in life. Racism was always roaming around where I lived, because some people were just not used to being around such a diverse community.

Over time, I learned that people actually became to love the diversity. Its funny because some people who stated that they hated living overseas and hated being around many Asians and African Americans cried when they had to move, or to this day still say that they miss being overseas.

I believe that racism will never go away because some people are too stubborn or they don't have the chance to experience a diverse culture. Once a person experiences it, you will easily notice that they love it and would do anything to go back.

I agree with all of what was written on the article.

Discrimination

The reading we were given mainly discusses “barriers to success”. Among the six that were presented I found barrier #6, discrimination, very thought-provoking. I say this because I’m an international student studying in the U.S. I’ll be graduating in four years and like everyone else, I’ll be looking for a job. Questions like the following come to me when I think about future job prospects: will employers discriminate me as an international student because my alien status requires them to take more measures to employ me (e.g work visa, social security,etc.)?

I have a friend who is in his sophomore year, who told me that as an international student, I would find it more difficult to get a job than a typical American student. His advice to me was to work as hard as possible and get some kind of relevant work experience so as to make companies see that hiring an international student would be a good choice.

I wonder if despite all the efforts I would make, some companies will still discriminate? I guess the solution is not to think about the question and do our best.