Reigning senior national judo champion and George Mason senior Yasmin Alamin is eager to launch her career in mechanical engineering in 2023. A career in engineering, Alamin says frankly, appeals to her for the potential to earn a good income. She adds she is lucky to enjoy working in her chosen field:
“To go through a fixed process like the design process, to create something out of an abstract idea that's realistic, that you can use to solve a problem.” She says, “Seeing that kind of magic development...is really, really cool.”
Alamin credits her work in judo for instilling humility and resilience in her work as an engineering student. She says a common misconception held about judo is that the main objective is to compete.
“The philosophy around judo is to make you a better citizen or make you a better human being.” She says, “The best part of judo is the better person that it's made me, to be more humble, to be a better teacher, and to be more confident.” She jokes, “I didn't think I had an ego before, but [there’s] nothing like getting thrown a lot to make you more humble.”
She adds judo has helped her build resilience. She explains, "Having to repetitively get up and keep working on things, having that head-to-head type of competition against sometimes-scary people, has helped me build a special resilience that has helped [me] in mechanical engineering [to] deal with some of the pressure and some of the stress and some of the presentations and the critiques from the professors on designs.”
Associate professor of mechanical engineering Colin Reagle writes of Alamin, “Yasmin was a joy to have in the classroom...Her process and approach to learning is equally impressive. She was prepared for every opportunity and equally reflective after the class ended or the assignment [was] submitted. Her ‘won’t quit’ attitude is going to take her far in life after she leaves Mason.”
Ultimately, Alamin aspires to own her own aerospace company.