My Life Story

Leonardo Da Vinci said these words and I quote, “The most important thing is to be able at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you can become.” These words have been instrumental in my academic career and are the source of my perseverance to advance my education. My name is Dania Charles and I am from the small but beautiful island of St. Lucia. A country that is deep rooted in its value of education and which has cultivated two world renowned Nobel Laureates. These are but a few of the driving forces that have encouraged me to broaden my education and apply to the Fulbright scholarship program. In my previous degree program of Engineering Technology, my area of concentration was Architectural Drafting and Design, but my passion for the art also allowed me to pursue a minor in Fine Arts; where I studied both Studio and Digital art and also had a solo senior exhibition. These programs granted me the opportunity to gain knowledge in both the arts and engineering. From studies of color and composition, to the design of machine elements, I have gained a great understanding of both the arts and sciences, with the aim of entering an architecture program in which I can merge this knowledge and bring my creative ideas to life.
From a very early age I have valued education and been an educator myself with an Associates degree in Primary School Education and seven years of teaching experience. But it is my passion for the creative arts and a keen attention to detail and design that has compelled me to apply to this program. I have also participated in many research activities and symposiums, including a research internship at the school of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. During my research in the department of Architectural Engineering, I did a preliminary optical analysis on an External Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) under the guidance of Dr Ming Qu. I also did extensive literature reviews on the history and geometry of solar collectors. This