This is the logbook of my voyage… to the One Piece.

Chapter 1: My East Blue—Where the Flame Was Lit

Ahoy there!
Name’s Ebram Gadelrb, and I’m currently sailing through the stormy seas of Mechanical Engineering at Cairo University — a rising junior, still patching my sails and chasing the next island.

But this journey didn’t begin in a lecture hall.
It started way back — not in East Blue, but at an AUC summer camp, where 11-year-old me first stepped foot on deck. Imagine it: halls filled with massive murals that looked majestic from afar… and when I got closer? BOOM — they were made of hundreds of tiny pictures. My mind? Blown. My stomach? Less impressed — the food was… let’s just say, not treasure material.

That camp was like setting sail for the first time. Everything felt new, wild, and exciting.
Each day, we were handed missions — mini engineering quests — that would eventually lead us to a grand finale: collecting samples from Mars. (Fake Mars, obviously — I wasn't that advanced.)

One mission stood out — building a hydraulic robotic arm out of tongue depressors.

Everyone followed the instructions like a safe little Marine.

Me? I looked at that design and thought, “This arm has the creativity of a snail in a straightjacket.”
So I tore up the blueprint, charted my own course, added some extra movement, and before anyone could say “Gomu Gomu no,” my version was done — cooler, faster, and dare I say, kinda badass.

Now, here’s the kicker: the president of the university happened to walk by and saw my invention.
He looked at me and said something I’ll never forget:

"You’re going to be one of the best engineers someday, and I would love to meet you then."

No Devil Fruit powers, no inherited will — just a kid with a compass for curiosity and a treasure chest full of imagination. That day, I didn’t just discover engineering.
I discovered me — someone who questions the obvious, reimagines the ordinary, and somehow makes it fun enough that others want to join the crew.

So, if you’re still reading — welcome aboard.
The map’s not fully drawn yet, but I’ve got my eyes set on the next island.
After all...
"The One Piece is real."

⚔️ The First Crew Member: STEM October

Every pirate remembers the first real moment they felt the sea breeze—when the journey truly began or when they got their first crew member.

For me, it was the day I set foot in STEM October.

I was just a kid back then—15, curious, restless, still carrying the echo of something I'd felt the year before but hadn’t fully understood. And then… I went to this strange, beautiful place that everyone called a “school.” But it wasn’t. Not really.

STEM October wasn’t built like a school. It was alive.

The moment I passed through the gates, it felt like I had wandered onto an island not marked on any map. The air smelled cleaner, greener. The open fields didn’t just stretch out—they breathed. The buildings curved and twisted like ideas caught in motion, like someone had dreamed in concrete.

I didn’t feel like a visitor. I felt like I was supposed to find it.

There were no teachers in long corridors yelling about silence. No classrooms where the day dragged like an anchor. Instead, there were sparks. Rooms humming with wild ideas. Conversations about inventions, space, water problems, robots—as if failure didn’t exist, only experiments.

It wasn’t just inspiring—it was magnetic.

I couldn’t stop imagining myself there. Not just learning. Becoming.

That day, something locked into place. I didn’t know exactly who I was, but I suddenly knew who I wanted to be. This wasn’t just the first crew member—it was the first real choice I made for my future. The first time I told the world: “This is where my map begins.”

And looking back now… I realize that’s where the flame was really lit. Where the wind first hit my sails. Where the boy met his first island.

Then I decided I was going to join that place—knowing how selective it was. They only took the top 150 students out of nearly 16,000 applicants. So I pushed myself beyond measure, always ranking first or second in my school. I gave it everything I had. And then, I applied.

And guess what? I made it.

It was more than great. It was everything.

I can't even begin to describe the memories. The laughter echoing into the night after football games. The long nights studying, building, failing, trying again—working on our capstone projects. We challenged each other, pushed each other in the most beautiful ways. We felt the rush of discovery and the warmth of belonging.

People spoke about everything—ideas you wouldn’t think a 16-year-old could even imagine. We debated, we dreamed, we even fought sometimes. And I miss it all.

I still say: I would give the rest of my life just to relive those moments.

That place shaped me. I became who I am there. And I carry that legacy in my heart. Many of my friends are now at MIT, Harvard, Columbia—others at top universities around the world. And every single one of them is still on fire.

And me? Deep down, I’ve made a promise.

The next time we have a reunion—when we walk through those gates again—I’ll have stories to tell. I’ll have knowledge to share. I will live up to the place I came from.

To the place I belong.

I will be one of the greatest.

And I will live my life to the fullest, no matter what.

🏴‍☠️ Other Crew Members— The Journey Continues

Mechanical Engineering - Cairo University

AIESEC in Helwan

Formula Student Racing Team

"Like every pirate needs a map, I finally knew what mine was starting to look like. And I’m still looking forward to discovering more.

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