Ideas and some exploratory writing.

why isn't engineering a bigger part of international development?

-doesn't technology have arguably the biggest role in developing impoverished countries?

-why don't people who are studying international affairs or helping with global development attempting to receive a background in engineering?

-why don't engineers think of roles they could have in global development sooner?

      As a computer science major, I can attest to the fact that many engineering majors don't consider their potential roles in global development, at least as an undergraduate freshman in this course. I didn't either, before this course started.
      What's interesting about this is that engineering is extremely important in international development, both is teaching other people how to advance their countries through technology as well as finding efficient ways to make global development cheaper and more successful. I think it's important to explore why engineers choose to be engineers, and why international affairs majors or in general many people who want to dedicate time to international development don't perdue at least a partial education in engineering.
     I think its useful to explore why I decided to be a computer science major. Although it doesn't have "engineering" in its name, computer science is usually taught at engineering schools and contains most of the principles that other majors do. I remember taking a college level computer science course in high school and doing very well in it, but even then, what were my motives for taking the course? What is it about who I am that allows me to enjoy something that's both extremely technical and difficult? Why hasn't the idea of helping international aid efforts ever crossed my mind before taking a class on it?
     I never really cemented what I know to be my personality to myself until the later years of high school. Up until then, I more or less though I would follow the footsteps of my father and become an English major and eventually an editor or columnist. I like reading and always have, but I never really LOVED writing on my spare time. The main reason I fooled myself into thinking I would pursue English was because I was good at reading and writing at a young age.
     In my junior, I took a computer science course purely out of curiosity. I had always spent a lot of time on my computer, and playing video games and whatnot. Fortunately, I ended up loving it. It blended the concepts of proper grammar in the English language, the logic of many principles of mathematical, and the freedom of creation like music or art. Most importantly, computer science and programing has an extremely high skill ceiling. This is addicting to me TBC