In my 3 glorious years at MSU I have learned one very important thing. Something I will take with me when I go out into the real world and make gobs and gobs of money just for looking at a computer and telling others what it said. I will be able to work with others in unison to achieve a common goal. As an engineer it's hard to interact with others. I know we have an amazing ability to use numbers, technology, and logic, but when it comes to social interactions, engineers are horribly inept. I heard a joke once on the plight of engineers; it goes "How can you tell you're talking with an extroverted engineer? He looks at your shoes when he's talking to you!" Hahaha. Engineers are weird. I should know, I was voted "Goofiest Bastard" in High School and it wasn't even a category to vote for. To overcome this stigma, many of the "extroverted" engineers will help out their socially handicapped brethren.

One such helpful engineer is a professor of mine. Freshman year when I had him, he wouldn't allow homework to be handed in with only one name on it. Everyone had to work in groups of 3-4 individuals. He called this "social engineering," creative isn't it? Many thought they could get away with doing as little as possible, just let the others do the work. It didn't work that way though. Each group member graded the others on how much each did within the group. This forced everyone to work their hardest at the homework problems. The groups often met for other classes outside of engineering (you know, classes that don't involve numbers, chemistry, or a computer of some sort). Often times the groups didn't meet on campus, no, they would meet up at someone's house and make a dinner/study thing out of their homework sessions.

With the help of these groups, I found myself to be a better student AND person. As a student I was learning from the others or I bettered myself by teaching the others who didn't get something. Hearing how others solved problems opened my eyes to many possibilities of solutions; there never is one set way to do something. As a person I was able to interact with others with confidence. I found out that everyone is in the same boat as me. I wasn't the only one who thought he was in over his head by doing engineering. I can now confidently say, "I'm an engineer and I like it." Folks in other majors may think I'm weird, but within a few short years when I'm sitting pretty with no student loans and a job I love, I'll have plenty of friends who won't care what I do. Working with others has helped me out enormously in college and I know it'll help me for years to come.

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 11/01/06