Hi my name is Nowrin Ahmed. Even though I’m a 10th grader, I was recently given the chance to go to an 11th grade Pathways trip to Alcoa with Step Up, and I really enjoyed myself. Starting off, the food was great. The women were so much fun to be around, and I’m glad I did it after school. At first, I did not really know what Alcoa was about or what it does, but after just about a good hour or two, I got a great amount of knowledge about Alcoa from the women who talked about their careers.
I love exploring, meeting new people, hearing about others’ lives and listening to their stories either about them or their education. The women at the panel had great stories to tell, and awesome experiences to share. I learned so many fun facts that day, and one fun fact that stuck with me was 'Recycling 1,000,000 cans can save enough to fly around the world THREE TIMES’! Can you imagine traveling around the world even once? Together we could be recycling to help create a better world for our future and saving energy to travel ourselves. That is so beautiful. It truly is. I think we can do it.
Another fun fact that I learned was 'Recycling an aluminum can creates 97% less water pollution than producing a new can.' I thought this was very, very awesome because if we just put in some effort to recycle a piece of aluminum, we can make a great difference in the water for our world. We all obviously want clean water, right? Together we can have a world where our water is less polluted. I also came home and shared these fun facts with my sisters.
As a 10th grader, my mind is very open and I am all up for exploring and hearing about new careers. I left Alcoa feeling inspired. It just goes to show how much bigger the world is than what I would have thought or what I have been told about. I know of some very general careers, and to see that there are people who major in studying aluminum, or have careers experimenting with such projects, is so beautiful. It was nice to hear all of the unique jobs the panelists were speaking of, and I really enjoyed seeing the friendships they hold. We met some panelists who were from the same career roles, and who have worked together to accomplish a goal. It's also very interesting to hear all of the different majors other women choose to study, and to pick as something they might actually want to pursue in life. Next year as an 11th grade student in Step Up I will get to visit more great companies and meet more women professionals. I can’t wait!
Personally, I am one who wants to try a lot that is out there because I love to learn. Then I love to share that information that I have learned with family members, classmates and my teachers. Overall, Alcoa was an awesome experience and I had fun working with my other sisters from Step Up programs. I also really enjoyed the ice breaker we did where we introduced ourselves and shared our one dream that no one could be able to destroy or come between. If Allah wills it to happen, my dreams will come true and I know I will work as hard as I need to, to get there in life. Once again, I'm Nowrin Ahmed, and thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
