I want to pursue structural engineering A simple bridge truss was the first structure I ever analyzed. The simple combination of beams that could support cars, trains and trucks across long stretches of water fascinated me. Having the tools to analyze truss loads further increased my interest in structures. I encountered the bridge in a textbook for my first engineering class. Knowing that the professor, Mr. Paul Davids, was a tough teacher, I asked him for the textbook so I could study and prepare for class over the summer. Having just arrived from Belize, I was determined to succeed. In class we learned about forces on simple rods and then put the rods together to form a simple truss. At this point I had almost decided that structural engineering was the career for me. From there the course simply took off: we moved on to frames, distributed loads, considered friction; we were basically incorporating real-world considerations into the structural elements. I loved the practical and problem-solving aspects of camp. At UC my classes were even more advanced. In my analysis and design classes, I especially enjoyed studying steel design because we not only learned about the use of load resistance factor, but we also applied that knowledge: I designed a four-story building. The professor was a practicing engineer and always connected the topic to the real-life steel structures he had designed, for example the SB Medical Center, an all-steel building with an isolated campus at the base. This is the type of project I would like to work on, designing the structure and considering how the building will respond to ground motion. After two quarters of structural analysis, I had come as close as I could to analyzing real-world structures. Looking back I realize that I learned great tools for structural analysis, but my "toolbox" was still inadequate. I was missing a very important tool: finite element analysis. According to my professor, finite element analysis has revolutionized structural analysis. While I enjoyed my classes, my internship experiences really confirmed my interest in structural engineering. While working at Caltrans as a student volunteer, I examined the results of computer evaluation of roads under construction.