By: Simon Hall
Mo’s Purpose
Finding purpose is one of the toughest things to do, so when you put it on a bunch of teenagers and say that their whole life relies upon this decision, it becomes even more difficult. However, for Mohamed Ali Chadli, although he may not have a pinpoint idea of what he will do, he knows that it will be with the goal of helping others.
“Really what has gotten me here is just my want to give to those in need. I have received help from both my family and friends and even sometimes strangers. So I feel like I owe it to them to pay this gift forward.”
Where Mo found the spark for his potential career was in the activities that he has been doing for his whole life.
“Soccer is a big part of my life year round and I have always been playing it for as long as I can remember. My cousin played on a competitive team so I was always at those practices just trying to get better. I also love to watch soccer, especially Liverpool, who I have been rooting for since I was 6.”
He was able to discover his first inspiration from this passion. Mo found that there was an opportunity for engineering in soccer and wanted to pursue this.
“I was inspired to go into engineering because of playing soccer. I am very interested in soccer cleats and thought that maybe I could find a way to create better ones through engineering.”
However as he thought about other opportunities he realized that he could possibly do more.
“In the end, I felt like this did not do enough to help people. I feel like unless I am helping others through what I do there is not as much of a point to doing this.”
This seems to be the most common theme about Mo’s attitude. Why do something if it only was for one’s self. Although he had discovered that he wished to go into engineering, it took him looking at what was in his life again to find an area of interest. This was to design and distribute prosthetic limbs.
“What inspired me is that a friend of mine does not have any arms. This is not driven by the fact that I feel bad for him, but because I want to help him out and see him succeed.
It integrates my love for helping people with my passion for building and working to create new solutions so it seems perfect.”
Mo went on to state that he was able to experiment with his engineering interests through opportunities in the classroom. As of the 2021-22 school year, Principles of Engineering & Design, taught by Mr. Lobo, was added for students of all grades to take. This class provides an introduction to engineering and the skills that the whole field is built on. For Mo, this provided the needed experience of learning what it truly takes to be an engineer.
“Although I knew that it would not be at the same level as a college course, I wanted to see what the engineering field looks like and Mr. Lobo has taken this class very seriously in terms of preparing us for college and showing us what we are in for.”
For Mo, he found himself excited to use engineering as his tool for helping others. He also has found his interest to increase and his skills as well.
“I enjoy the trial and error aspect as well as the class atmosphere. It is really fun.”
Mo gives credit for his attitude and values for those who came before him and set an example for him. The person he put a lot of emphasis on is Mohamed Ali; as the man that he is named after, it makes sense that Mo channels the ideals that he worked to spread.
“Mohamed Ali inspires me. He is a super simple and down to earth guy. He fought for racial equality as well as being an islamic leader, as well as just being an amazing boxer. He inspires me through both his strength and mentality. It also helps that I am named after him; I feel like I am able to channel him at points.”
Although Mo knows that he is not perfect at all times, he works to be his best for others and is always working for this goal. This is seen through his passion for engineering and his desire to do great things in the future.
“Wherever I find myself, I hope that I can be good to others and do what I love.”