Joe Maldonado '21 Recruiting Profile

Entering high school, I had a dream coming out on the top of my class to prove that I am one of the best student-athletes out there, but for the reason that I saw a part of my future that lead me to become an astounding and intelligent Aerospace Engineer. Before understanding this career path, I was uninterested in other careers and influencers' jobs, precisely what my parents do in their everyday lives, such as my father being a car salesman and my mother being an elementary teacher. As of right now, I still desire to become an Aerospace Engineer because of the attachment and love I have for my up-and-coming future. I see myself ten years from now working for NASA and progressively completing or working on ongoing projects that will develop new ways to explore our solar system or even new parts of our galaxy. Thinking about what it takes to maintain a job like this is whether I am happy with what I'm going to be achieving and, most notably, doing. I enjoy working in groups to solve many complex problems that outer space and our solar system, in general, can stop us in our tracks to create evolutionary technology. Assembling new objects that idealize as something in the future pushed me to my limits in robotics as it did in my life outside of academics. Pursuing Track and Field at the age of five allowed me to grow progressively to build that love and passion for getting better during every opportunity. Being one of the fastest amongst my age group at eight years old gave me the motivation to keep going and maybe figure out another career I had a chance of pursuing soon. It was such an accomplishment for me to compete in the 2011 State Games of America as it made the people around and especially my family proud. Being an athlete changed how I saw the outcome of what I prepared for; even if I did lose a race or game, I always had to reconsider did I have fun and enjoy what I loved doing at the end of the day. Applying for colleges and universities that I had my eyes lingering around for led me to want to get accepted into the University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering and Texas A&M University's College of Engineering School. Other than the benefits of being a Texas resident while attending UT Austin and A&M, I researched and loved their engineering programs consisting of an abroad amount of facilities and research centers that have led other graduates to become accomplished learners in various industries. Being among the top-ranked engineering schools in the country attracted my interest to get accepted and pursue what I love the most. Getting accepted will allow me to prove to my parents and others that my hard work leads me to be the next college student-athlete.