Is Studying Engineering Really Worth It? Here is My Experience
When I was a child, I had the dream to become a brilliant engineer who makes fantastic designs and brings more creativity to our lovely planet. As I grew, the dream grew in my heart, and I was confident that I would reinforce my dreams with actions and eventually become a successful engineer, despite the limited resources that I had at the time. I always asked myself, What does it take to be an engineer, and what does being an engineer look like?
Here I will answer the questions and show you the journey that I went through to become a civil engineer.
High School Level
During high school, just like any other smart kid, I liked math classes and really enjoyed physics and the application of science in real life.
It always feels promising when you can innovate and implement theories and science in real life. The love of innovation pushes you really hard to solve boring quadratic equations and rearrange long energy equations. The goal is not to find an x value, but to find the meaning of x in real life.
I still remember the lab work that I did with my group. We were the only group that was able to calculate variables and implement them in real life.
We had a projectile problem where we had to calculate the offset distance and height required for a cup, so the ball could smoothly enter the cup without any problem.
In this sort of experience, you will enjoy mathematical equations and feel more excited to do more and more. This was one of the experiences that somehow prepared me to be an engineering student.
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see.” Confucius
I took a graphic-aided design course and took several science electives to prepare myself for engineering. I did not mind taking these difficult courses, although some of them were very challenging.
Studying English was not a fun experience, but I have to admit that I have learned a lot, at least enough to write this story. It was the only course that took a lot of time during high school. Especially since I’m a native English speaker.
University Level
The journey started here when I joined the engineering school. Just like any engineering student, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information we got every day.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain
We got exposed to the mechanisms of things and the theory behind each equation. The infinite number of assignments we used to get every day was unbearable. We always heard unrealistic wise sayings from our professors, such as,
“Don’t work hard; work smart.”
However, the system was not designed to only work smartly; you still need to work as hard as you can.
Every day was a busy day with work, labs, lectures, and tests. In fact, I remembered spending 24 hours in school doing work without a long break or sleep. The next morning we had a test that I’m still not sure how we actually did without even sleeping!
Sleeping and eating are the two main things that we needed but couldn’t get. We were unfortunate with our school, which doesn’t offer good food for students. Some of us have depression problems, some have health problems, and the rest were strong enough to withstand the school load.
The first two years were the most difficult ones, but then things got better, and the pressure dissipated a little. In the last two years, things became more familiar, and we started having more love for our field as we got exposed to somehow real engineering problems.
I remember a time when we had a problem that we had to solve before going to the test. We stayed up into the night working in the lab, trying to solve the problem, but we could not. We gave up, went home, and slept late after a long time of trial and error.
I woke up in the morning after a dream of me solving the problem. I wrote on my board everything I saw in the dream, and guess what?
The solution was correct!
You cannot imagine the happiness that I was feeling at the time. Honestly, even today, I am still amazed at how I solved the problem right in the dream!
Fortunately, the problem came in the exam, and I answered it correctly, as I had already.
Although finding an internship opportunity was a challenge for many of us, I was fortunate enough to get an internship and save money during the summer term.
Things kept getting challenging and stressful until the last moment of school. Finally, we graduated after finishing our senior design project and a number of technical elective courses. Here we concluded our engineering study by illustrating our technical knowledge with drawings, calculations, and reports that include an acceptable level of detail.
Facing Obstacles
Unfortunately, the concentrated study load that was applied to me during my study period could fracture my health system and get me ill in the last year before graduation.
A few hours of sleep, everyday stress, and non-healthy food could beat my immune system and cause me severe health problems. I had to stop school to recover and get my health back in good shape.
I had to have four different surgeries in only two years. I dropped all my courses except the senior design course.
I was the one who did most of the work in the group, so leaving the group was not a good idea. Instead, I chose to do the work online and put more pressure on my team members. My team was good at reacting to the problem, and they could accomplish many objectives of the design in a limited time period while I was away.
Having to overcome that challenge delayed my graduation, but I eventually came back strong and completed my studies.
I was not the only one, though, who had issues. Some of my friends' financial difficulties prevented them from finishing their degrees on time; others were unable to return to engineering; still, others lacked the grades needed to pass their courses.
After Graduating
During a rough time of social distancing and masking, we graduated, and there was no ceremony to celebrate our accomplishments. However, we made our own ceremony and celebrated the graduation by ourselves. The slogan of our situation was,
“Do not wait for a ceremony; make your own.”
The challenge was to find a job in our profession. That was not an easy phase. We had to apply to many companies, but none would really answer. The experience we have is not adequate for real-life projects.
The first job I had after graduation was as an estimator for a construction company. The pay we get as fresh graduates is almost close to the minimum wage.
I need to admit that I loved working as an engineer and learning new things every day, but we work hard but never get much.
How Worthwhile Is Engineering?
If you think of engineering as a way of making lots of money or getting rich, then you probably need to change your view of engineering. But if you think of it as a way of growing your brain capabilities and learning the science behind everything, then you are right.
In summary, you may not get the value of the energy that you will put into studying engineering as money, but you will get it as knowledge and ideas.
Engineering may open your mind to new ways to make money, but it will never get you the money that you may aim for. The education that I get from engineering inspires me to write stories on Medium and think of more innovative ways to make money instead of working 9–5 jobs.
