From a young age, I have always been fascinated by how things work. I would take things apart and attempt to put them back together, learning more each time I tried doing so. This evolved into projects and creating my own things, to learn as much as I could about mechanisms to use in my projects. YouTube became a quick obsession for me because it opened so many doors I never knew existed. Engineering YouTubers like Mark Rober and William Osman inspired me with their silly inventions. I quickly realized I wanted to do something similar. I researched what all these people did for work, and discovered engineering. Freshman year of High School I had no idea what I wanted to do. Engineering was an interest but I had other hobbies which I enjoyed more at the time. I decided to take an intro to engineering class to learn more about it. This class quickly became the highlight of my day. Learning computer design opened infinite possibilities for my creations and helped me understand how basic mechanical systems worked. I started to fabricate little inventions for my friends and family. I became very interested in computer-aided design, or CAD for short, where I could design things to the limitless potential that my brain could produce. I decided that CAD would be my focus so that I could become the best engineer I could be. In my Junior year, I enrolled in a drafting and design class at the local career tech center to learn even more skills for my future. I arrived at the orientation to meet my advisor who spoke to me regarding my reason for taking this class. After further discussion, he recommended the Robotics and Automation class, Looking back, that course was likely the key turning point in my decision on engineering. My career tech classes have taught me everything from electrical systems to programming a touchscreen, and I can take all of my skills learned there to college and beyond. Robotics has taught me so much about not only engineering principles but how to work on a team to create a solution to a fun problem, much like I will have to do in my future career. YouTube led me down a fun and engaging rabbit hole of engineering, and I will always remember the days of laughing at silly inventions that all led to the inner engineer I am today.