Caleb Reid

Hello Professor Halbert,

My name is Caleb Reid and I am currently a freshman enrolled at the University of Alabama,

studying mechanical engineering. I was born and raised in Chicago while being involved in

multiple extracurricular activities such as robotics, baseball, and cross country. These interests of

mine have grown over the years as passions as I pursue both academics and athletics. With these

interests have also been obstacles. I was diagnosed with a learning disability at the age of eight.

This disability was so hard to overcome that my mom had to draw pictures and diagrams for me

to understand each chapter book. Furthermore, I had to read each page over at least three times to

get a good understanding of the material which in turn was very frustrating. At first, I thought

this disability defined me, but I worked diligently with tutors, teachers, and therapists to

overcome my difficulties. Ten years later, I became a straight-A student, the head of my class,

excelling in AP Calculus, and the captain of my high school’s robotics team. When I was eight

years old, I would not have imagined achieving all of these accomplishments. The ability to

overcome obstacles in engineering and writing have truly been God’s blessing.

Learning to persevere through my adversity and understanding how to improve from my

mistakes has been the backbone to my success. Similarly, my love for analyzing problems and

developing solutions to those problems makes engineering a natural fit for my academic and

professional career interests. Being an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers

(NSBE) for six years has transformed me. Through giving speeches and competing in robotic
tournaments on both regional and national levels, participation in NSBE has been instrumental in

the development of my self-confidence. The environment provided at these conferences

consisting of other aspiring young black engineers and role models, was both educational and

inspirational.

My ability to overcome obstacles has pushed me to better myself in writing as well. I have

answered multiple essay prompts while applying for college. These essays took a lot of work but

after processing through many family members and tutors, my essays have improved immensely.

I have also written a lot of opinionated essays as well as informative essays with my tutor since

English is not my strong suit. Also, I have composed a lot of poems for my significant other

which she adores. These rather thoughtful poems that I have written for her have improved my

creativity in writing. This passion of poems has blossomed through seeing my uncle's work as a

poet.

My intentions for this class are to improve in paragraph development skills, as well as my

responses to essay prompts. I would also love if I earn an A in this class to maintain a high GPA

and since this is not my strong suit. Lastly, I would like to enhance my skills in sentence

structuring and creative writing. This in turn will help me improve my presentation skills to

future colleagues in engineering.

Moreover, I want to be more creative, flexible, and open to new ideas. In efforts to improve my

creativity, I am going to keep making poems but direct it towards my family members using the

five sensory skills. Furthermore, I am going to be engaged in the class by asking and answering
questions. I will improve on myself being open to new ideas by placing myself outside of my

comfort zone while not blocking anyone’s opinions. I would also love to improve my grammar

and overall sentence structure. Sequentially, this will most likely help me become a more

creative writer. I cannot wait to grow in this class academically and to take flight!