A LETTER TO THE PUBLIC OUTREACH
This month's section is dedicated to a letter received from one of our Scholarship recipients.
Dear Mr. Goldstein and the Southern Nevada Chapter,
Time has truly flown by! I have been meaning to email sooner about my college experience, so I hope you'll forgive for my lateness! Regardless, college has been a remarkable experience so far. I ended up changing my classes to more mechanical engineering-based classes right before school started, of which also I have been meaning to inform you. To be truthful, that has ended up being a great decision for many reasons. Before that, here are the classes I am currently taking and then the classes I have just signed up for (which may change only slightly since I just realized I need another mentored class, a requirement as a BYU freshman):
Current:
Engineering mechanics- statics
Mechanical engineering - new student seminar
Physics 121 for scientists and engineers
Book of Mormon 1
Biology 100
Calculus 112
All those together total 15.5 credits
Coming soon!
Engineering graphics (CADD class)
Calculus 113
Physics 123
Beginning Mandarin Chinese 1
Missionary Preparation
Anyway, my classes thus far in the semester are AWESOME! I can't believe I wanted to knock only general education classes out of the way first. It has been such a valuable experience being around students who also are excited about engineering even if it means we are less social than other college-goers. I have taken advantage of the Tutorial labs here for physics and statics to the point where I can remember most of the TAs names that work there. They have helped me understand the material and homework more than if I had attempted to go solo and work alone. Their help to me has inspired me to be a TA at some point in college. In fact, I am considering being a TA for the projects lab next semester! I had the opportunity to take a three-session shop class and use the tools there to make an aluminum pen. I always forget how much I love power tools and machinery, so I think being a TA will be a great way to learn the workings of all of them. Hopefully it'll work out and a position will open up next semester. If it does, I'd be the second girl ever to work there as a TA. Weird, huh? I would think more women would be interested in that, but then again, this is BYU and half the girls are just waiting to get married and are doing a less-rigorous degree in the meantime. They can do what the want, I suppose, but I wish I could motivate them to do awesome things because they CAN!
Goodness there is so much to tell but it is getting quite late. Before I sign off, I'll tell you about why I chose Chinese as a one of my classes next semester. I love learning languages and I love a good challenge. Learning Chinese will definitely be a battle worth winning, especially since BYU has a Chinese Flagship program. Once students reach a Chinese 302 level, they can apply for the program. If accepted, those students are taught the Chinese they need to know if they want to use it in their career. Isn't that awesome! That definitely is going to lengthen my number of years in college by a bit, but the benefits will hopefully outweighs the costs in providing opportunities in an increasingly international field.
I hope that things have been well with you all, and I will definitely email again soon!
Sincerely,
Camille Clark, scholarship recipient
Southern Nevada Chapter - ICC
