My name is Kirsten Szydlowski and I am a freshman in the STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholars program at The Ohio State University. I am from Painesville, Ohio and I went to Riverside High School. I believe that my experiences and the opportunities that my high school offered me during my time there set me up to succeed in my college and professional careers. The teachers and staff were dedicated to every single student’s success and helping them achieve their goals. My family has also been very supportive of all of my goals and aspirations throughout my life. With their support, I have been able to do very well in math and science which inspired me to pursue a degree in the STEM field.
I was first inspired to pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering when my family took a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Walking under the massive rockets and seeing the Apollo control room is when I decided I wanted to work with rockets. While the idea of becoming an astronaut and actually going into space is slightly frightening, I would not pass up an opportunity to do so if my career leads to that. However, designing and building rockets for NASA or another private company is my ultimate career goal.
During my college career, I plan on completing multiple internships and possibly studying abroad to further my experience and strengthen my resume. Comparing my skills to the requirements of the aerospace program, I believe that my hard-work and determination will help me to be able to succeed even with the large workload. The difficult classes will also prepare me for my career by challenging me and forcing me to think outside the box to come up with innovative solutions to potential problems. The challenging requirements of the program inspire me to set goals that will be challenging to complete.
Since deciding to pursue this career, I have worked hard in all of my classes to do the best I can to prepare myself for the challenging college courses and workload. My determination to succeed and my inspiration to do well and to make my family proud, will help me continue to push my own limits to be the best possible version of myself. I believe this determination helped me want to become a STEM Scholar. In high school, I had always taken the hardest possible classes, honors or AP, and I knew that I did not want college to be any different. I wanted to be a STEM EE Scholar because I wanted to be able to get to know other students pursuing the same field as me. Getting to know fellow engineers and working with them on group projects, will improve my teamwork skills which will prepare me for my career. I am excited to enter this challenging field and to prepare myself for my future career at The Ohio State University.