Jeffrey Rodriguez
HUM 106-007
4/14/2020
Most people take a lot of things for granted. David Rose is not one of those people. Having grown up in Union City, PA, a small town in the northwest corner of the state, he has experienced more than most people. The average person doesn’t have two near-death experiences by the age of eighteen. David Rose is not an average person. His experiences have changed his outlook on life.
Dave grew up the oldest of three children. His father is a machinist and has always had an interest in motorcycles and worked on them as a hobby. This activity rubbed off on Dave when he was very young. He got his first motorcycle at the age of sixteen as a birthday present. It didn’t come as you would expect, it came in pieces. He spent a year putting it together, with the help of his dad. Other than sharing his interest in motorcycles with his dad, Dave also played with erector sets. This is what sparked his interest the most.
Dave is very passionate about motorcycles. He currently has two of his own, a
Kawasaki and a Harley Davidson. He uses them as his main mode of transportation, instead of a car. His experiences with motorcycles, however, have not all been good.
While coming home one night, he ran into a bad patch of road, hit a pot hole, and lost control of the bike. He was thrown over the handle bars, and suffered a broken collar bone and a very badly cut hand. Somehow he managed to drive the rest of the way home.
By the time he got to the hospital, he had lost two liters of blood. When he got there, the doctor was amazed that he hadn’t passed out. The average person will lose X liters of blood before passing out. This is just the first of his life changing experiences.
Because of the exposure to mechanics at a young age, Dave got interested in engineering. “First I wanted to be an architectural engineer, but I’m not gay or an artist.”

Using this reason and many others, he decided to do mechanical engineering. To him, experience was the most important factor in choosing a college. He looked at a few schools including Embry-Riddle University, Penn State, and the University of Miami.
He came to Drexel University because of the Co-op program. He plans to get his
B.S. here, and go onto graduate school to get his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, but is still undecided on where to go. The difficult part for him is funding his education. All of it is coming from his personal savings and/or income. He is also participating in the work study program here. He works as much as possible at the financial aid office
In high school, Dave was very active. He played flute in the band, ran track, and competed in the academic decathlon. While participating in all these activities, ha also managed to be ranked eleventh in his class of 94 people, and work a job at MacDonald’s
30-35 hours a week. During his senior year he was captain of the track team, competing in high jump, long jump, and triple jump. As his senior year went on he became better at high jumping. He became good enough to have the school sponsor him and buy him a set of track shoes. By the time he was preparing for the state meet, he was jumping over 6’
3”, and inch shy of the school record.
Just before the state meet, Dave had a track accident. While practicing high jump, he landed wrong, and came down on his neck. The way that he landed, should have broke his neck and killed him instantly. The doctors told him that he should be dead now. He spent the next day, his birthday, in the hospital. Luckily he was able to walk away with just strained neck muscles. The following day he turned in his track uniform, telling the coach “I lost my trust in the mat.” Of course, the coach understood his decision, as did the rest of the team.

These experiences have changed David Rose for the better. He hasn’t let any of his injuries hinder him, and has always worked hard to gain his full strength back. He has a more relaxed outlook on life and he realizes how precious life really is. He has more courage than me, and most people I know.