Why did you choose this career? Are you happy with your decision?

Hi ,

I am an engineer by profession and below is the story of what motivated me to become an engineer. I am more than happy with my decision.

This was 1st Feb 2003 , it was my grandfather's birthday and we were all celebrating. It was also the day a crew who had gone to space in the only reusable shuttle of that time , was to come back to earth. One of the crew members was an Indian-American Kalpana Chawla - first Indian woman in space. I was in 3rd Grade and to me it was just fascinating at the time to see the reentry of a spacecraft. Suddenly it exploded. We saw it exploding over the Television . That's when I started to read about Kalpana Chawla and what she's achieved.

She and her journey through all the struggles was my inspiration to be an engineer.

I have known since I was in junior high school that I wanted to do something with design. In high school, I spent a summer at the (Parsons) New School of Design where I was able to hone my skills and explore different ways to pursue design. Although I could not afford design school, I did receive a BA and while working with that major (Spanish & Education) I still pursued ways to use my design skills. I kind of worked my way into my current position (Production Artist) through the back door by always taking jobs related to design/print/digital. I have a passion for the details in production work and absolutely LOVE what I do today. I know it doesn't have anything to do with my degree, but there is no way I could have found this job without work my way through positions that required some kind of degree. I highly recommend trade school if you can't afford a full university.