IRES Assignment 1: Grandfathers, Civil Engineering and Dragon Curves

I think this introduction is a bit overdue. I have already posted three pretty hefty blogs (I said they were gonna be short, I guess that's not gonna be the last time I lie on one of these) and unless you're a part of my family (which, statistically speaking, you probably are), you have no clue who I am or what I do.

My name is Carlos Miguel Leyva Paredes, and I am a Civil Engineering major.

I am one of six current participants in the IRES program to Valencia, Spain. Paid for by a grant from the NSF, it chose from various community colleges, Prairie View A&M and the University of Texas at Arlington the best undergraduate candidates for a six week research program here in Spain. The program is currently in the second of three years of research. The purpose of the IRES program is to foster both interest in Civil Engineering and further studying opportunities, all the while creating international networking chances.

I somehow made it through the cracks, and now here I am.

Day 6: I have infiltrated their ranks and gained their trust.

When I read about this opportunity at first, I thought it was tailor-made for me. A Spanish speaking country, in fact the one country in the world I was most interested in visiting, at a University that I had previously considered while still in High School. Every single piece seemed to fit in perfectly. Most of all, it was within the discipline of Civil Engineering. Much like how everything came together for this trip, everything in my life has been coming together for me to go into Civil Engineering.

I was born to an engineering family. My mom is a food technology engineer, my dad an agricultural engineer. Some of my uncles and aunts are in engineering, and my maternal grandfather is a Civil Engineer. If I were to pick a single person that was most influential in steering me in the direction of Civil Engineering, it would be him. I'm not alone in this: my older cousin has already graduated as an Engineer and my younger brother is my roommate at UTA. Take a wild guess at what he's studying. Pupi must done something right to have three of his nine grandchildren studying Civil Engineering.

As far as when I knew I was "destined" to study engineering, I could give you the cliche answer that every undergraduate engineer gives. "From the time I was a toddler I loved playing with Lego's and I was really good at math early on...blah, blah blah", and while it would be true, it's not the reason I decided to be an engineer (plus, it's really hard to get people to read through these already, why would I make them even more boring?). The main reasons are much simpler. It pays well, there's a really good job outlook coming out of college and I enjoy it. I enjoy solving problems, seeing a solution where there wasn't one before and doing things people didn't even think of. Showing off my ingeniousness; what's not to enjoy? If among all the money and fun I get to help some people, all the better.

So when I get the degree (if I do get it), what happens then? Short answer is I don't know. If two years ago you would have told me I would be writing a series of blogs while doing research in Valencia, I would have probably laughed in your face. I have a vague idea of what I want to do. I graduate college, get a job, make money, take a sabbatical, come back to school, work a little while longer to save money and then I take that money and set up my own business. Sounds simple, right?

There's a quote in Jurassic Park where Chaos Theorist Ian Malcolm explains that Jurassic Park will fail because it's a simple structure bluntly forced on a complex system.

Dragon curves: look them up.

If a single sentence describing the next ten years of my life isn't a simple structure forced on a complex system, then I don't really understand chaos theory (a completely possible scenario).

What it all boils down to is a manageable amount of time. It's different to plan for ten years than it is for two, and I believe that setting my goals for two years is currently the best thing. In two years I hope to be getting my degree. What happens after that might as well be drawn from a hat. The only sure thing for me at this point is that getting my degree is a vital stepping stone to the next level of things I want to accomplish, regardless of what they may be. And this program is helping immensely to get me up there and beyond.