overall reflection on gcsp

Through my GCSP experiences over the course of four years at ASU, I've discovered how I can blend my passion for sustainability with my technical interests in traditionally non-sustainable fields like aerospace and robotics. Through my GCSP experience, I've learned how to blend multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives to create effective engineering solutions to create a more sustainable world. Aside from my technical education at ASU, GCSP has given me an understanding of how politics and economics can impact the development and adoption of technology. 

My experiences through the core GCSP Interdisciplinary, Multicultural, Entrepreneurship, Social Consciousness, and Talent competencies have connected very well into a cohesive experience that has greatly enriched my engineering education. My interdisciplinary competency experiences in FSE 150 and GPH 314 have given me an understanding of the greater cultural, political, and societal impacts on engineering and have given me perspective on how to communicate not only with other engineers but other co-workers, customers, and people in general. I have gained valuable cultural perspective through my multicultural experiences in Germany and through my Latinas/os in the U.S. class. These cultural perspectives have informed how I think and communicate with people, not only in an engineering setting but in all parts of my life. One of the key skills I gained through my entrepreneurship experience in taking FSE 301: Entrepreneurship and Value Creation was communication. Effective communication will help me not only truly understand people's needs and perspectives but also gives me the tools to persuade people to adopt the ideas I believe are most valuable. My research experiences through the talent competency have helped me dive deep into different topics in sustainability and I have learned a set of research skills that will give me a structural and methological approach to engineering challenges I encounter in my career. 

Finally, my social consciousness competency experience through the Engineering Projects In Community Service (EPICS) program has reminded me throughout my four years of school of why I got into engineering in the first place. It's easy to get caught up with the glamour of high-tech and high-paying roles, especially as I've gotten closer to graduation. In this phase of my life, the next steps of applying for full-time jobs have been met with priorities for compensation and location and I've had to think a lot about what I want for myself in the upcoming years. My work developing the bottle cleaning machine for the homeless shelter has reminded me that the whole point of engineering is to make people's lives better. I'm very glad I have stuck with my EPICS project so long precisely because of this reminder I get every week to stay true to why I got into engineering and joined GCSP in the first place. 

The GCSP program as a whole has served as a guide through my education to stay true to my goal of helping people and creating a more sustainable world through engineering. I'm incredibly grateful for the experiences I have had through GCSP.