Jannah Rawas
43 Garfield St
Yonkers, NY, 10701
February 10, 2020
Sara Jacobson
City College of New York
160 Convent Ave
New York, NY, 10031
Dear Professor Jacobson,
The purpose of this letter is for me to be able to formally introduce myself and allow you to better understand who I am as a student, future engineer, and as a person. A fraction of my identity relies on my ethnicity and culture, as it has influenced many of my experiences and thoughts. I was born in the Philippines in 1999 as the second child to a Filipino mother and Saudi Arabian father. I spent many years travelling from both countries and various others in Asia, thus I am used to being seen as a foreigner. Even in my own countries I was deemed a foreigner, especially because I have an accent in every language that I speak. Thankfully, however, this has not hindered my ability to advance in my studies and my writing.
I consider myself someone who has always been hungry for knowledge. When I was growing up my parents bought me books instead of toys. When I got older and it was more difficult to afford, I would frequent my school’s library and have a new book to borrow every week. With my love of reading also came my love for writing. In my previous semester’s writing class and my highschool English classes I enjoyed being able to write, to express myself to my audience. If there was a single thing I would want for you to understand about me, it would be that I am someone who truly loves the opportunity to express myself through writing and to experience other’s writing as well.
I consider a number of my writing as an achievement, but I have one that stands out to me. When I was 13, still living in the Philippines, I was given an offer to become a published author. I had been writing a book at the time and my mother sent a copy to various publishing companies, two of whom gave me an offer. Unfortunately, at this time we had to move from the Philippines to Saudi due to my father’s declining health. Although I hadn’t been able to seize that opportunity, I still consider it an accomplishment. Whenever I struggle I always find a way to triumph over what is holding me back. I remember hating Chemistry in highschool and having the lowest comparative grade in it. So I focused on it, because I knew it was my weakness. My final grade jumped ten points from 90 to 100 and I was proud that I had overcome that challenge.
I believe that my tenacity will help me in my major and my future. My goal is to go into Mechanical Engineering and specialize in Aerospace. I’ve always seen myself as somebody who would work with airplanes, which is admittedly not exactly the easiest thing in the world. It is risky, lives can be endangered due to mistakes. Those are the exciting challenges that come with it though! It is a high risk; high reward system and I am vying for the reward. When I was growing up in Saudi I was told over and over that that was not a job for a woman by my family, my peers, my teachers, and that entire society. But I have never, nor will I ever be the type of person who would let anything come in between me and my future. I believe that I am a success story still being written out.
Sincerely,
Jannah Rawas
