Push(ed) it to the Limit
As many of my peers can relate, this academic year has been filled with many ups and downs. It has been filled with moments where we have been so lost we forgot how to function. Normally I don’t talk about how much I put into something because I normally perceive it as being “cocky”, but this amount of work requires at least some sort of self acknowledgement and possibly a little celebration. Before I talk about myself and what I have accomplished, I want to say congratulations to all my peers who stumble upon this as I know you have put in the same grueling hours and possibly more, cheers to being one step closer.
For anyone who knows an Engineering student or is thinking of becoming one, know this; those who study Engineering have a work ethic that can only be described as “brute horsepower” (work transfer rate, had to). Along with being able to think on the spot, we have to work fast, hard, and efficiently on problems that look quite intimidating. The typical college saying “you have three options, sleep, partying, and studying, you can only pick two” is more than an accurate statement for us. On average we spend, I would hope, 40 hours a week looking at our work (if you spend 20 a week, either you’re a genius, or you’re mighty fine at procrastinating and making up for it). If you know an Engineering student, tell them congratulations on making through another semester, or even give them a hug (no matter how awkward it may be for them).
My Junior year has been rough. Fluid Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics Lab, Soil Mechanics, Soil Mechanics Lab, Surveying, Civil Materials, Structural Analysis, Structural Analysis Lab, and Thermodynamics (some extras in there if you know what I mean). Overall I should end up with a combined 3.875 GPA after this weeks end. Although a GPA value is indeed not the end all be all of accomplishments, I look at it as a judgement upon myself and how well I did. Although true, having your academic standing represented by a number is definitely an understatement of how much it took to achieve it. That GPA is filled with ten all nighters, roughly 320 one hour SEPTA train rides (90 of which were at 6:15AM), a metric ton of Keurig K cups, 10 five subject notebooks worth of notes, countless Ramen packs, 175 written pages of lab reports, 320 one miles walks to the train, what seems like an infinite amount of study time on and off the train, 5 fully read textbooks, 8 finals, 8 midterms, 5 three week long projects, and 32 quizzes. I get to do all of this again and more next year, but I am eager to. I see how close I am to being the Structural Engineer I want to be and I cannot help but smile as the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter. Over the Summer I hope to continue this blog and update it with my experiences for my (not yet guaranteed) internship or whatever I find interesting in the STEM field. Until then….
