Mpansu Tunkara
1571Sheridian avenue
Bronx NY, 10457
9/18/2022
Prof. Pamela Stemberg
Hostos Community College
500 Grand Concourse Bronx NY 1051
Dear Professor Stemberg,
I am Mpansu Tunkara, I am an Electrical Engineering major. I was born in the Bronx but raised in Gambia west Africa where my parents came from. I left the united states when I was eight years old and returned back when I reached the age of nineteen. While I was in Africa I learned a lot about discipline and how to humble myself and be thankful for the opportunity that god gave me that not other people from overseas have.
I have seen people get kicked out of schools because of their parents not able to pay their school fees in order to get an Education, students would walk for miles very early in the morning just not to get late for school all of this is just for the sake of getting an Education to make a successful tomorrow. During the time I was in Gambia I spent my time going to Arabic School to learn my religion and the Arabic language, even though I was in school I was always a curious kid about life. My most couriousty was about electronics and constructions on how things were able to be made just with knowledge and hands on the job.
I was always the boy with the itchy hands I would wonder around with my tools in the house in Africa just to see if I could make something; just something that I could say yes I made this!!. while I was in school I was able to occupy myself on my free times like after school or the weekends been an Apprentice in carpentry making furniture’s and bed sets with dressing tables and this was all hand made.
After learning a little on carpentry for sometime I was interested in electronics, which was something I was very compassionate about so I had the chance to do apprentice in been a technician. The fun part about the technician work that I loved mostly was the installation and the troubleshooting where we would go install satellite cable plate for people to watch channels from different countries. I was also engage in repairing electronics which were radios, television, and other electronics. Since I was deep into electric work I just focused on studying electricity which is why I am studying Electrical engineering at Hosts Community College.
I am ready to focus on engineering not because of the huge name of it, but it relates to the career that I would like to head for in the future, sometimes you really love something but then you have to go through other obstacles to achieve that goal which is to go to school. I always wonder why to become an electrical engineer has to involve a college education where It’s a hands on job. but then I realized that education comes first to succeed because It involves a lot of history of math and science as you go into the Electrical filed. Math and science are the two subjects I was never ready for, not because the work that is done with it but the amount of stress that it gives me is the problem. For math I am not too good at it, I tried to do a lot of studies myself at home but sometimes it feels like it requires real work which is to be understood because as I want to become an Electrical installer it really require that higher math where you’ll be able to read blueprints and how to calculate the amount of lights and sockets required for a whole apartment and a building and also the amount of circuits needed for every apartment depending on the size of the house and the amount of sockets and light bulbs that’s going to be installed. There is also meter readings which every month the electric and gas company would send an individual to read the meters and calculate the amount of electricity (which is measured in kilowatts) is use for each resident or home owner. With the trouble shooting, math also plays a good role because its like when you car is not functioning properly and your engine light comes on. when the auto technician reads the code with a code reader it gives it codes and these codes are written in numbers.
When it comes to science courses such as chemistry and physics, I believe these are required to understand the history of Engineering in general. Science is a problem for me because the reason been is that since I have spent my young age studying Arabic I wasn’t able to go to an English school because of a lot of finances that it needs, I did study science in Arabic but it wasn’t enough to get me better in it.
The way I would like to see myself in the future is a graduate student with an Electrical Engineering degree, I would like to see me as a licensed Electrician working on construction and residential building doing installation and troubleshooting. I would also want to be in the union were you’re able to get retirements and pension and a great salary. It does take time to fulfill this task especially with responsibilities taking care of my siblings and parents as well. I believe all the hard work and struggles that I go through just to obtain a graduate degree would make me a role model and an example in the family to not to give up in their dreams no matter the circumstances.
