91探花sophomore Cara Mischinski is preparing to depart for Brisbane, Australia with the studying the design of engineering materials and structures at the Queensland University of Technology. During the group鈥檚 time 鈥渄own under,鈥� Cara will be sharing regular blog updates.
By Cara Mischinski
G鈥檇ay mates! (I know… I hate myself more for that one than any of y鈥檃ll could, but I have to start this thing somehow)
My name is Cara Mischinski, and I am going to (be attempting to) keep you updated on everything that is going on with the 2018 91探花STEM Study Abroad trip to Australia–a brief thank you and shoutout to 91探花College of Engineering, Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity, Queensland University of Technology. But, before we have even thought about how we are getting to the airport (or at least before I have), you guys should get to know a thing or two about me. I could give a little context for one of only two information sources of this wild international excursion down unduh, you know?
First off, I think(know) I am funny. You will have to suffer through the consequences of that, and I won鈥檛 apologize for it. Second, I鈥檓 from North Carolina, and (full disclosure) I did not like it for almost the entirety of the time I lived there. HOWEVER, now that I live across the country I do like to use my Southern Heritage鈩� to flex on Seattleites in our limited areas of superiority (fast food options, cost of living, diversity, fast food options, driving abilities, end list). I鈥檓 sure this will come up at some point over the next month, so I figured I鈥檇 just let y鈥檃ll know now.
As for my academically relevant information, I am an incoming sophomore at UW, and I was just recently accepted into the Materials Science and Engineering Department (woohoo!). I have been involved with 91探花CoE and OMA&D since last summer as a part of the 2017 WiSE Bridge Cohort, then as a math tutor in the Engineering Academic Center, and most recently as an RA/TA for Math Academy. I am very passionate about making STEM fields more accessible for and welcoming of minority students, so there is no doubt that I am thrilled to take part in this program organized by OMA&D. Not only will I be doing some real materials engineering for the first time with a diverse group of my fellow 91探花engineering students, but I have the privilege of doing it all in a new country, learning a culture that I know nothing about.
Ok maybe not nothing; I鈥檝e got a few Australian pop culture references to cling onto (looking at you, 5 Seconds of Summer). However, beyond my superficial 鈥渟hrimp on the barbie鈥� understanding of Australian cliches, I don鈥檛 really know too much about authentic Australian culture. A country that was at one point a prison colony must be pretty interesting. Not to mention, there is the culture of Aboriginal Australians that I know next to nothing about. I鈥檓 more than ready to throw myself onto this foreign island with this lovely cohort and try to figure out this country and our engineering project (and maybe even ourselves??? If we鈥檙e lucky) together. We have quite a month ahead of us, and I impatiently await our departure and the opportunity to keep you lovely readers updated on our antics!
Back to other blog posts here.