Blog Post #1: Missing Basics & Mini-Action Plans

Engineering is "practical, fun, mathematics, science"...Engineering isn't "history, memorizing dates, literature (and insert double negative noun here)." Well...what is engineering? At the point at which we offer double negatives for a description of what "Engineering isn't," it becomes rather clear that our answers are nearly misguided interpretations, swayed and swindled by our lilliputian exposure to engineering. The only consensus we all seem to reach is that engineering is somehow both hard and fun...an intriguing paradox really. However even students outside of our engineering major conform to popular belief. After answering the usual suspect of a question,"What's your major?", with "_____ Engineering; one is astonished to hear 'wow' or 'u must be smart ' or my personal favorite 'good luck with your social life'."...hardy-har-har.

At some point we take these rather sarcastic comments or elogies too close to heart...as if we have to prove that we are actually that smart or worthy of that one friend's "wow." Our medium toward this is none other than scholastic triumph or...acing calculus and physics courses. Yes, the praise is good and math and physics are an integral part of engineering but ENG 198 helps us acknowledge the humane side of engineering; to acknowledge that asking the right questions, sociability, and familiarity with the parts one is working with are also essential components of not just an engineer but a successful engineer. All the hours of math and physics required by an Aerospace Engineering student such as myself should not be belittled by the missing basics but rather supplemented and empowered by them.

My mini-action plan toward these goals started out before my transition into college. I was very fortunate to meet other engineers in my summer job and to work alongside them. The experience with certain aspects of engineering such as circuit boards was well appreciated but the most important aspect I learned was an extra-engineering aspect (or at the time I thought it to be somewhat extraneous to engineering). This aspect was to not take myself too seriously. What he meant was to not develop a superiority complex, leaving room for error, questions, and mentoring. (I now realize that this may sound like one of those chapters in our summer reading :O...maybe he read it too). Only through error can we learn to ask questions, better ourselves, and become more sociable in the process. If you never sought help because of a superiority complex...today's a good day to get over your fear of failure.