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"My shoes can take me anywhere. Whether it is high heels to a business meeting, steel toes to a construction site, sneakers for the gym, or hiking shoes on the trails. My interests are as varied as my shoes. They range from donning snowboarding boots for the hill to sliding into slippers and curling up with a good book. But the worn gray high-tops are what I wear most of the time. Sitting in classrooms and labs getting an education in this field is a career choice most women would not pursue.

I like to do things a little more non-traditionally. Like walking around the jungle in rural Panama in my hiking sandals, collecting data for a micro-hydro power project for my senior design. Or choosing a school where I need to wear insulated boots to walk to class through drifts of snow most of the year. I walk through the drifts to become an engineer, a job that requires a lot of intelligence, creativity, and determination. Not everyone can fill the shoes of this position. Engineers need to be adaptable and able to wear different kinds of shoes to succeed in a variety of positions. They also need to understand their customers and able to wear other their shoes.

In a few months I will be walking across a stage in my black flats and planning on many new experiences this accomplishment can achieve. My college life may be ending, but my feet are not tired enough to stop yet. There are still some shoes in my closet that have not been worn. I want to wear my brown boots all around Europe, my silver flats in the bright cities of Asia, and my slip-ons in small communities in Africa and South America. I want to visit all the strange and beautiful places in this world. I want to learn from the people and how I can help them as an engineer. I want to make a difference. Then when I have accomplished this, I will get some new high-tops and see how far they will take me."

YOUR ESSAY (350 words or a reasonable number more as needed) Word Count: 0

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