 | Dakota Sabotka received a $3,000 American Honda Foundation/ThanksUSA scholarship to continue undergraduate studies at Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. The daughter of an active-duty Army Sergeant, Dakota is a second year Biomedical Engineering major with a minor in American Sign Language and Deaf culture. She plans to pursue a career in medical devices, specializing in neural prosthetics. |
| “Further education will improve my ability to help others by allowing me to explore my immersion of ASL and Deaf Culture while specializing in the creation and design of biomedical devices. As I pursue understanding of how engineers can solve medical problems and learning a fluent amount of sign language, I am becoming more confident in my choice to follow a path of study that involves working with hearing aids and cochlear implants. I believe that this field will raise the quality of life of the people affected by my work.” Dakota is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and received a Certificate of Leadership among Women in Engineering at RIT. In December, she will travel to Guatemala as part of the Engineering World Health Winter Institute program. “There I will spend three weeks getting hands-on experience in my field by repairing medical equipment in public hospitals. I am so excited for this opportunity to go abroad and have a meaningful impact in a resource-poor community.”  Dakota with her Young Life leadership team Dakota has many interests outside of the classroom. She is a member of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, plays intramural sports, and is involved with Young Life non-denominational Christian ministry. She adds, "This summer, I was featured on this amazing leadership team for Young Life summer camp. I am honored to have been given the opportunity to lead kids from the military branch of this international organization." She is a huge supporter of her campus, volunteering during New Student Orientation and supporting RIT sports. "RIT has a very impressive hockey team with even more impressive support from their fans. I'm proud to be a tiger!"  “Thank you for the generous American Honda Foundation/ThanksUSA scholarship. I was very happy and appreciative to learn that I was selected as a recipient of this award. Because of this scholarship, I have the opportunity to explore my major in unique ways. Your generosity has inspired me to help others and give back to under-resourced communities. Thank you very much for allowing me to gain confidence as a biomedical engineer.” |
