Chris Apple, a native of nearby Templeton, CA, is a second year environmental engineer as well as the upcoming 2014-2015 president of Engineers Without Borders at Cal Poly. Along with his commitment to EWB, Chris is also the leading coordinator of IMPACT, a branch project of EWB.
Throughout the span of two weekends, May 2 to 4 and May 9 to 11, IMPACT hopes to recruit 1,000 volunteers to commit 4,000 hours of community service in the San Luis Obispo County.
“Engineers Without Borders’s goal with IMPACT is to heighten our outreach here in our local community,” Chris said. “People know us because we do a lot of projects in impoverished developing countries and we want to show that we really care about our community in SLO as well and what’s better than to launch a huge community service drive.”
IMPACT hosts a variety of community service events ranging from helping maintain the local community garden to participating in a bean bag baseball game against an elderly home.
“We’re just trying to benefit all sectors of society through this event,” Chris said.
Aside from providing students with the opportunity to give back to the community, Chris hopes that IMPACT will better expose EWB to the SLO community while also attracting local sponsors.
“We really want to unite Cal Poly to be a responsible state holder in our SLO community,“ Chris said.
As Chris moves to take the lead as president of EWB, he already has many skills the organization has already taught him.
“My favorite thing about EWB and what I’ve got out of it is that I’ve grown into a person that knows how to tackle a problem, any problem,” Chris said. “I’ve developed such an initiative to be able to look at the goals of what were trying to solve and just go for it. Engineers Without Borders is all about that.”
Not only has EWB helped Chris to develop professional skills, it has helped to shape his perspective on why he does what he does.
“Working with people has been fantastic. It just feels so purposeful as a college student to have an outlet like this to really be able to make a difference. And a strong difference, it’s hard to do that as a college student and inspiring other Cal Poly students to become leaders who want to make a positive difference as well.”
When asked if there was anyone who inspired him to be the person he is today, Chris responded that everyone did.
“I can’t think of any people who have really inspired me…everybody I guess. I always try to see the best in people and have awesome conversations. See why they like to do the things they do.”
While Chris is not certain where he will be in 10 years, a career that combines his passion of engineering as well as his desire to help others is definitely a possibility.
“I thoroughly believe that, right now I have no idea about where I’ll be. I might pursue a career, actually, engineering in developing countries through some international aid organization. I might try to lock down a typical environmental engineering job at a wastewater treatment plant or something like that,” he said. “I know I will be continuing to help people through whatever I do. And I know I’ll be an adventurous person throughout my adulthood.”
Helping others find inspiration in what they love to do is why Chris’s commitment to Engineers Without Borders will continue to be a large aspect of his life while here at Cal Poly.
“I love being active and inspiring other people to be active. Like I said, I just think it makes people so joyful when they can make a positive impact on anything at all,” Chris says. “Everybody has their passion. I just love being inspired and inspiring others.”
Fun Facts:
- Chris was the president of the kindness club at his high school
- He loves making smoothies
- The orange chicken at Trader Joe’s is probably his favorite food
- While he rides his scooter around campus, he’s not entirely sure it’s legal but has resorted to doing so after his bike got a flat tire