Brad Akers
Brad comes from a growing city in South Carolina that lies a couple of hours away from Charlotte, Atlanta, Gatlinburg, and Columbia. It’s also close to the mountains and lakes of the upstate, however. He moved there from Virginia at age 6 and stayed local and close to family for the majority of his life. He has really only traveled around the east coast, but every trip seemed to offer something new. His only out of country experiences were small service projects in Puerto Rico and in Egypt, which totaled about 10 days apiece, but were powerful enough to make him want to travel the world.
Brad got his undergrad from Clemson University in chemical engineering, which he basically stumbled into. Being a Tiger helped him develop new ways of thinking through the course work, internships at engineering firms and some solid research experience. It all worked to direct his interests in a seemingly random, but actually very careful sequence of events. So at some point, amidst all the talk of pharmaceuticals, polymers and petroleum, he realized that the processes he was really interested in were environmentally focused. He made this his emphasis area and decided that his passion for people and for seeing the world could tie into his career enormously. So Brad started looking for ways to get out and help people with the engineering skills and principles he’d learned. While thinking about the Peace Corps and several other humanitarian vessels, he found out about the MI program and was blown away. He immediately applied to USF and somehow knew it was exactly where he was supposed to be. He is approaching this incredible opportunity with purpose and with the mindset that he can learn a lot more than his textbooks can teach. He doesn’t care where he ends up for his Peace Corps project, but knows that this experience will shape his education and the rest of his life. |
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