As an honors student at the University of Maryland studying Mechanical Engineering, I have made great strides to become an active community member, always seeking ways to get hands-on experience and to challenge my skills. Last semester for instance, in an Engineering Science course, I was selected to become the team leader for an Over Terrain Vehicle (OTV) project based on my organizational skills and ability to coordinate multiple activities to guide a group of peers. This project took all semester long, sixteen weeks, and required a lot of testing, high attention to detail, and the ability to meet deadlines. In the end, we successfully designed and constructed an OTV that could detect obstacles and navigate its way through an arena. Our team also received the Sustainability Award for the project. Given my role as leader in guiding the building process and providing direction to the team to use only locally sourced and reusable materials, I was honored to present the project to the College of Engineering, on behalf of the team, and be recognized as the first recipient in over five years to earn this notable award.Being able to build upon my passion in Engineering through a hands-on internship focused on team based projects, learning from experts in the field across departments and the organization and to see first hand the magic behind the scenes is an experience that I would not take for granted. I have been recognized by peers, community leaders and instructors as a solutions oriented team leader who empowers diverse and multifaceted teams and values the importance of relationship building to navigate complex tasks requiring strategic thinking, integrity and decisiveness. I hope to get the chance to prove this to you as well.Email: pgknapp@umd.edu