A Dream of an Engineering Student

 "Everyone must dare to dream; everyone has a right to pursue his dream."~ Empire Nara

With only 40 square meters, my house accommodates 5 people.  My parents stay in a small room, and my two younger brothers and I sleep on the floor outside the bedroom.  There is not enough space for each family member to live comfortably as those who live in a big house.  However, I still consider myself as a very lucky boy, since I have known that there are many people who are living in much worse conditions, especially those agrarian peasants living in the rural areas.

In Cambodia, a large number of people in rural areas are farmers.  They depend heavily on farming. They plant rice and grow crops for survival, but the products they produced are not enough for them to support their living.  The problem is that there is a lack of irrigation systems that could enable them to use water for planting their crops, roads they could transport their productions to the markets, and most importantly knowledge of how to use the water resource they have effectively.  As we know, in the rainy season, there is an excessive amount of water, so they are not able to work on their farms whereas in the dry season there is not enough water for planting rice and growing crops.  Seeing the potential in this area, along with my talent and keenness in learning scientific subjects, I have developed my interest in helping my country by trying to study hard and enrolling as a rural engineer at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, the most prestigious educational institution which provides the field of engineering and where I got a scholarship.

From day to day, my interest in the subject I am studying has been gradually translated into a great passion to be one of the most famous engineers in my country, and that passion has persuaded me to project into the future about how to attain my goal.  I realize that in order to master my area of expertise, it is not enough just to study inside the country.  I have to discover more about the knowledge surrounding this field of study and techniques being used in other countries in order to refine my ability.  Undoubtedly, the country which interests me the most is the United States of America, and I would like to choose Environmental Science Engineering and Water Resource Management Engineering.

Besides being well-known as a multicultural society, the US is a country which is well developed in terms of developing both city and rural areas.  By taking this course, I hope to bring the techniques and experiences that I will learn in the US back to my country and apply them into real practice so that I can help the rural communities, as well as Cambodia as a whole, develop.  Cambodia will be able to cultivate techniques to develop high ability in human resources in this field if more and more Cambodian students are provided chance to learn from and see how US develops its country.

Bearing this clear, long run vision in my mind, I believe that I will accomplish my goal after I am admitted to study in the US and return to Cambodia with new experiences and knowledge.