My name is Thomas Taye and I am an EE student. I am from Snellville, Georgia and I graduated from Shiloh Highschool with the class of 2020. Although I was born in the United States, my family is from Ethiopia. I am fluent in the national language, Amharic, and I am a very big participant in my Ethiopian culture. I have only been to Ethiopia once in 2013 and it was an amazing experience, and I wish to go back again soon. Ethiopia has been a big part of my upbringing. Almost every aspect of my childhood, whether it was food, language, or religion, had Ethiopia stamped all over it. I grew up in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and on April 29, 2018, I became an ordained deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox church and enjoy serving the Ethiopian community in Atlanta through religion. Regardless of where I end up in my future, my Ethiopian heritage, culture, morals, and lifestyle will always be apart of me.
Aerial image of Ethiopia on a map, it is in the horn of East Africa
My personal interest includes watching sports, playing sports, investing, and math. All of these interests have once crossed my mind and had an influence on my major selection. At first, I wanted to study journalism to become a sports personality. Eventually, I wanted to study finance and learn how to dominate Wall Street, but I realized all the risks associated with that. Finally, I realized how there will always be a need for STEM-related workers, and I realized my love for math can actually take me very far.
My history with engineering is not that deep, but I have always had a strong interest in engineering. I have had a deep fascination with the fact that a couple of pieces of metal and plastic put together in the right places can give provide us with a deeper connection to the world. I would always question, how does a box allow me to watch my favorite TV shows, how does a slim piece of metal access the internet and even let me play video games with my friends? After much research, I found out there are many careers that can help me answer my many questions about technology. The one common denominator that I discovered was an Electrical Engineering degree. My love of mathematics already made me positive that I wanted to major in the STEM field, but now that I found out one of my biggest interests had a career path, my major decision was easy.
Photo of me