1. Kevin Merle
January 2015
Embry-Riddle Essay
Do you have any ideas yet about what you want to accomplish after college? Don't feel you
need to have formal plans, but we would enjoy learning about your possible career goals.
My professional goal is to have a positive impact on the future health and well being of
people. I know that sounds a bit lofty, but I want to do my part, however small it may be, so that
people will be better off in the future. I spent considerable time thinking about my intrinsic skills
and aptitudes and the possible career paths that will play to those strengths. I discovered that the
field of human factors and engineering psychology would align perfectly with my skillset. I am
excited about the type of activities that human factors experts get involved with, and I believe
working in this profession will be the way I can make a significant impact on people's lives.
My confidence in feeling that this is the right path for me is driven by an honest
recognition of my intrinsic skills and aptitudes. I have taken multiple personality tests,
objectively assessed my strengths and weaknesses, and sought out the opinions of family and
friends who know me well. I feel like I am a curious person who is also very observant and
analytical. I see and contemplate details that are overlooked. I have a good eye for design, I
love to solve problems, and come up with better solutions. For example, when I look at the
layout of the controls on the dashboard of my mom’s Subaru, I wonder how it could have been
designed better. I spend a lot of time “in my head” generating ideas and reaching my own
conclusions. Just a few days ago, I was using my mom’s new Shark® vacuum. Amazed by the
ergonomically designed handle and by how easy it was to use, I was actually enjoying
vacuuming my living room because of the design! These thoughts and reactions all stem from
my curious nature. I support that curiosity with a personal drive to see if there is a better way to
design a product or environment.
I am especially interested in human interaction, whether it is with other humans or the
environment. Psychology has always fascinated me and taking an introductory psychology
course at college confirmed this interest. I also am curious about engineering and human-
centered design. All of these combined interests and innate strengths have led me to the field of
human factors engineering. Human factors combines engineering and psychology. After
thoroughly researching the topic, I realized that this is my calling. This is the type of career that
will take full advantage of my skill set. It is important that I pick a career that is aligned with my
skill set because that way I will be more productive and naturally better at the work. After I
become an expert in the field of human factors and ergonomics, the question is where will I
choose to apply this expertise? What areas have the potential to significantly improve people's
lives?
The exciting thing about human factors is that it is a discipline that is applicable to many
different industries. Human factors is relevant any time someone interacts with a system,
product, or environment. For example, I could work on the design and interaction elements for

2. the next generation of hybrid or electric passenger vehicles. I could work on a team at Boeing to
improve the experience design for travel on commercial aircraft. Maybe I could work at
Microsoft to refine voice recognition and gesture technologies for personal communication. The
possibilities are varied and extensive.
I do have a dream job. At the moment, the dream is to work at Elon Musk’s company
SpaceX as a human factors specialist. I have always been fascinated by space, so it is exciting to
think that my career could take me in that direction. I would love to work anywhere in the
commercial space industry, but SpaceX is definitely my top choice. In my opinion, the next giant
leap, if you will, for mankind is space exploration. I want to help mankind move forward in this
field. As mentioned earlier, I want to do my part, however small it may be, so that people are
better off. I believe that if we start exploring and colonizing other planets, humanity will be
better off. If my dreams come to fruition, I will be applying my human factors knowledge to the
interior of spacecraft. The ultimate goal is to help design the spacecrafts that will carry humans
to Mars. If I could accomplish that, I would consider my professional life a success.
Again, my professional goal is to have a positive impact on the future health and well
being of people. I am firmly convinced that the best way for me to do that will be to focus my
education and professional career on the field of human factors engineering. I have the tools,
passion, and sincere interest to make a difference in whatever industry category I get involved
with. Embry-Riddle has the curriculum and reputation to help me achieve these goals and I am
looking forward to the educational challenges over the next few years.