One of my most vivid childhood memories was riding on a train. I still remember that particular trip. Boarding, finding the sleeping space I’d share with my mother, my heart pumping with excitement as the throttle of the engine began. The steel walls of our cabin shook. Slowly but surely, we left the light of the train station and then there was nothing to see in the outdoor darkness, except for the moon, surrounded by a halo of softly lit clouds. The rocking of the train lulled me to sleep that night. In the morning, the same, rhythmic rocking woke me. The city I knew was gone by then; outside was nothing except borderless grasslands. That moment, I felt that I belonged – in the train, to no geographical location in particular, but to everywhere. Since then, I have dreamed of becoming an engineer. I want to be the one driving the train, and bringing smiles to peoples’ faces, just like the engineer of that train did for me.

Fast forward 12 years. I was accepted into UIUC’s acclaimed ECE program. I was overjoyed. There was something nostalgic about mechanical engineering, the organic throttling of the steam engine. But I knew society was ready to move on to sleek bullet-noses and sterile electric motors and automated announcers’ voices. Society wanted Electric and Computer Engineers.

During my first semesters at UIUC, I didn’t really get to take courses in ECE. Most of my classes were just basics, like physics and math. The only mention of engineering during my first year came during a CS lecture, where the professor used train cabins to explain doubly linked lists. My second year, I learned about circuits and electromagnetics, no doubt important topics, especially with the rising popularity of mag-lev technology. Some course subjects were very difficult for me to grasp, but in the end, through grit, I managed to maintain a 3.6 GPA.