Aleksei Calhoun

At my community college, the opportunities to apply what we learned were few and far between. My campus did not have a machine lab, nor did it have any engineering-related clubs or projects to join. 

So what was I to do?

I decided to invest in myself and sought out ways to get hands on experience as an engineer. I started to build up a collection of tools, equipment and components that I thought were interesting or useful, and found problems that I thought could use a well designed solution. Some projects were done for family and friends, and some were just of my own volition.

To be fair, my motives weren't entirely career-based, and at first I wasn't thinking about how I could use my projects on my resume —I mostly did it because, well, it just seemed like a ton of fun.

So here's some of the tools and equipment that I've taught myself how to operate and work with!

The point of this section isn't to show off my collection of tools and components. Rather, it's a way for me to show that engineering is something that I've always loved to do, and is something that I have invested a significant portion of my time and money into pursuing beyond attending school. I know that engineering is what I'm meant for, and I know that I will be an extremely valuable asset to your company.