I need an engineer's advice (Not so much anymore I think)

[Barracuda]

I'm sure there's at least one or two engineers on here, but anyone's opinion would be helpful.

Ever since I was in middle school I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with machinery, and going into my freshman year in high school I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. I didn't know what I wanted to do as a mechanical engineer, but I thought by the time I got to college I'd figure out what I wanted to do. That time has come, but now I'm more unsure about what I want to do then I ever was. I know it's only going to be my freshman year in college, but seeing as I'm planning my classes to get an AA in engineering, and the fact that my going to college is completely funded by the government, I'd like to try and decide before I waste my time and everyone's money.

I'd say I'm relatively smart, I've only ever gotten one C in a class my entire life, so I know if I really tried I'd have a good chance of getting through college. I enjoy math as long as it's logical, and maintained a 90+ average in both Calculus and AP Calculus, despite getting a 2 on the AP test (I don't mean to seem like I'm bragging, I'm just showing my best credentials). I always study, always do my work on time, have never been one to rot my brain out on the weekends partying, and kept my g.p.a. above 3.5 all throughout high school.

My dilemma now is, I'm absolutely sick and tired of it. I know public school isn't exactly hard, but I'm just so sick of trying hard and doing my best in school to get to this point. Deep down it seems like I'm just trying to find an excuse to puss out, for the most part because when I saw Chemistry I and II on my required classes I almost just quit then (I suck majorly at chemistry). Right now I lack any drive to go to college, and am currently just going because it's the next thing to do. I know if I quit now I'll forever kick myself for not even giving it a good try, but I need to find something to give myself at least some sort of incentive to keep trying.

Basically what I want to know from GTPlanet is, what do you think I should do? I don't know if there are any mechanical engineers here, but if there is what do you personally do, and what suggestions do you have for getting through college. I know this is a silly thing to be asking GTPlanet, and I could easily go on google and find some generic bullcrap to help me out, but I really value everyone's opinion. I know this is ultimately my decision to make, and I will have to have a really long and deep think about it, but your opinions would help me out a lot more then you could imagine.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Find a practical, hands on course.

You'll regret going to uni if you aren't fully comitted to the idea and if you much prefer hands on work. I suggest you do some reasearch and find out what sort of hands on courses are available.

For example the uni near me offers Diploma in Motorsport Engineering, pass that in 2 years and you go straight into the 2nd year of the degree program if you wish to continue.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Yup, find a hands on course and see if you really get a buzz from engineering.
I only really discovered how much I loved engineering when I got stuck in and covered in oil for the first time (mill maintenance babyyyy!).

 

[Joey D]

Ask yourself this, do you really want to be a mechanical engineer? Are there any jobs in the field? Many of my friends graduated with ME degrees, and now they are sitting around with no job. Some are even going back to school because there is no work for them. The really sad part is a lot of them went to Kettering, a $30,000 a year school that is supposed to be one of the best engineering schools in the nation. They are several $100,000 in debt with no job.

If you want to be an engineer go for something like biomechanical, aerospace, or computer engineering. You'll more than likely have an easier time finding a job if the job postings I see and people I know in the programmes are to be trusted. You'll still be an engineer, but you'll be an employed engineer with a decent salary.

And you don't need to go to a 4 year college, but you do need some advanced training in order to get ahead in life. Pick something you love to do, based on your posts here you seem to enjoy tinkering with old cars. Maybe you should look into going into some auto mechanic programmes, or even aeroplane mechanic, small engine, etc. You have a lot of options. And the first year a college is always the figuring out stage. I went into school an English major and came out with a degree in anthropology.

 

[Barracuda]

Thanks guys, that actually helped me out quite a lot.

I'm definitely going to look into finding something that is a lot more hands on. If I could I'd really like to work on machines, cars especially, but I don't want to become just Joe Schmoe from down the road that'll change peoples oil, brakes, and tires. On the other side of the spectrum I don't want to become a pencil pusher crunching numbers and going over plans all day while all the real work is being done outside the office. There's a lot to think about, but at least time is currently on my side.

 

[ANFD]

I'm not one to offer advice, but in reading your comments (and others) I think it fundamental that you identify the core value of your efforts. Is it to get a good job and make a good salary or is it to fulfill a dream born of an avid passion. Since I'm not sure of your actual age, it appears as though you are young enough to afford some contemplation. Personaly. I dropped out of college after high school and like all my peers around me, didn't really know what I wanted to do. I wound up being drafted into the Army, serving in Viet Nam and had it all behind me (with the GI Bill) before I turned 21.

When I was in the service, I was exposed to motor racing for the first time and literally fell in love with it. I decided to go back to school and pursue an engineering degree and simply pray that it would someday, somehow, lead me to a job I really loved .... never thought about the money at all. To make a long story short, it did just that, spending years in racing and a career with one of the most presigious racing companies in the world and retiring a couple years ago with a nice pension from my bud, Soichiro. My job was the most exciting thing in my life and I literally couldn't wait to get there every morning.

To me the most important thing is identifying what it is that you love the most. If you have a passion for something you are one of the lucky ones. So many do not. I was 24 when I started back to college and taking classes I loved was fun and the ones I didn't like, I treated as a challenge and managed throught it. I didn't get straight A's but made the "Dean's List" almost every semester. In the end, it wasn't my degree that landed me my dream job but simply the opportunity to show someone with influence, the potential that I had. If you have a dream, I would recommend pursuing it but only when the timing is right.

 

[Joey D]

If you would like to be an engineer look into something like civil engineering then. You'll be out in the field dealing with construction projects. You probably won't really be tinkering with machines but at least you won't be behind a desk all the time.

There is also the possibility of getting into things like surveying for large projects, whether it be road construction or a skyscraper. You get to be outside and deal with equipment. I had to learn some surveying as part as my archaeology courses and it was pretty interesting to figure it all out.

If you want to actually be more hands on and tinker with things look into becoming an aerospace mechanic. Planes and helicopters are far more complex than cars so you'd be applying yourself a lot more then just some guy changing oil on an old Honda Accord.

Just start talking to people about what they do for a living and what they went to school for, if it sounds interesting to you then pursue it.

 

[Philly]

You sound a lot like me. Maybe my "walk" through engineering can help you.

I always knew I wanted to be an engineer. Even in middle school. High school came along and I decided I wanted to design cars with my engineering degree. And I had a plan. College, grad school, $90,000 per year job. No sweat. I slept through high school so I almost assumed college would be a walk in the park, and I'd be able to use my smarts to get into some sweet job.

Wrong. I got to college and hit a wall with homework and things. My current GPA is a full point lower than it was in high school. The first thing to go was my goal of working for a big name German company. And I even toyed with the idea of going civil for a while.

But my goal of becoming an automotive or aerospace engineer and being able to buy my 911 Turbo is enough to keep me plugging away at this college thing, which has become an epic speed bump. And I still want to go to grad school, so I'm making sure I do my best. And I know that if I want to work on cars or airplanes, I'll have to go to grad school. Maybe for you your dreams are enough to keep you going. But I'd definitely say you should at least give college a try. It is incredibly fun, and there is so much more to it than the academics that it's definitely worth it for the experience alone.

On becoming civil, I'd give it a look. I know you like machines and things, but if you're like me, you'll probably enjoy buildings and bridges as well. And the CE program is a lot easier than the ME program, so if you don't think you're up to the ME level, Civil still shouldn't be too bad.

Good luck!

 

[Danoff]

Diablo,

My story was almost identical to yours in public high school. My grades were good, I hated chemistry, I was mechanically inclined, interested in engineering and math, and didn't know what to major in in college.

I picked aerospace engineering, and eventually got a masters in it as well. Currently I'm making 6 figures, have flexible work hours, more vacation than I can use, and one of the coolest jobs you can possibly imagine.

I don't want to scare you, but there's only one major difference between your story and mine. I wasn't trying in high school. I was spending a good amount of time playing video games and goofing off. I rarely took homework home (worked on it in class), and almost never studied for tests... and I almost failed out of my first semester of engineering.

High school was/is easy. College was/is hard. Very hard. Especially if you go to a good one. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I studied all day and all night. I didn't date, I didn't party, I associated only with the people I had class with and only while studying (ok, those are slight exaggerations - I met my wife in college). I vividly remember spending thanksgiving day in a wind tunnel working on my fluid dynamics project.

If you're doing it right, university will be the hardest thing you ever do. They will try to fail you, and they're very good at it.

But there's something you need to understand here. You're at a critical crossroads. Right now you have the same education level that the vast majority of people achieve. You're qualified to sack groceries, clean up messes, and flip burgers. Even flunking out of college would help you get farther than your current level of education will take you (and you'd have fewer regrets). Opting out of college will hinder you for your entire life. No question about it. You've got a good chance of using your muscles to do work rather than your brain - and your salary will be greatly limited by that and the number of people with qualifications equal to or greater than you.

Additionally, you're very much not likely to enjoy your job without a good degree. I want you to think about that for just a moment. You're going to spend an incredible amount of your conscious adult life at work. 8 hours a day is roughly half of the time you're awake. If you consider an hour or two each day for getting to/from work and preparing for work, you're looking at better than 50% of your life while working spent on work. You just might want to like what you do. In fact, you just might want to do something you're proud of spending your life on - something that gives you meaning.

Would you sacrifice 4 years of your life to make the next 35 years good instead of bad? How about 6?

My bachelors degree in engineering, as I said earlier, is the hardest thing I've ever done. The masters was a cake walk by comparison. I don't want you to go into university thinking that you can survive if you have the mentality of "high school was hard and I'm tired". You will not. There is no question. What you need to recognize is that high school is easy, and nothing that's worth the time is ever going to be easy.

Life is hard. You're going to have to work - hard. If you want to be an engineer, you're going to have to sacrifice about 4 years of your life to push yourself harder than you thought you could. But when you emerge, you'll have made the rest of your life that much easier.

I know this is easy for me to say from my comfy office chair in sunny southern California. But you have no idea the pride you'll feel from becoming an engineer or doing the work that comes with engineering. It will literally change your life.

 

[Sureboss]

I can't speak from an engineering point of view, but I can speak about finding out what I wanted to do with my brain.

It's no easy choice, let's make that dead clear. As Dan has mentioned above, in life you will have to work hard, very hard, particularly an industry like engineering which moves forward quickly and can be very tight fisted. Find what you want to do, there are so many areas of engineering to work in. What do you enjoy doing? What specific part of engineering makes you drool at the sides of your mouth? What I then suggest doing, once you know that, is try and experience it. That might not be easy, but you can probably find it out.

About 16 months ago, I had gone back to college to get my GCSE grades done properly and I thought, "What do I want to do?" (I was nearing 20, so a bit of a returner to education). I applied for a Chef course at a local college, in our induction week I got offered to go on to a diploma course in hospitality management, having them spotted my grades from the previous year. I've done my first year of the course, won student of the year (somehow!) and am loving every minute of it. I got to spend 5 weeks working at one of the best cricket clubs in the country, and got to experience having 7,000 customers in an evening. They then offered me a chance to work there after my work placement, and despite being fairly new have already been given tasks, including plenty with large sums of money, which gives me a great sense, that I've known these people for a couple of months, and are given some massive tasks like these.

My advice. Find what you enjoy, and do it. Determination can get you anywhere and will drive you on to achieve like there is no tomorrow.

I've seen with my Dad how much he enjoys engineering (although is unemployed at the moment), at various jobs he's re-built Formula One cars, driving Alfa Romeo's and Lamborghini's (60s/70s era) at Silverstone, designed part of the Mercedes A-Class gearbox (re-design, following a problem on declines, on the 6-speed box iirc) and now has the potential to go and set-up a plant line in India.

I think Dan's post above is absolutely excellent.

 

[Mrs. Famine]

Currently I'm making 6 figures, have flexible work hours, more vacation than I can use, and one of the coolest jobs you can possibly imagine.

*flicks V's at the screen*



I can't offer any Engineering based advice (I didn't quite make it into the RAF when I was 18 to become one of those cool people who fixes aeroplanes) but I can tell you that getting a degree was the best thing I've ever done (workwise, obviously!).

The difference between you and me is that I floated around for a while, not knowing what I wanted to do so I spent 2 years at college (your high school) doing pointless courses, then I spent another 6 years floating from job to job and essentially working to live. I then went to University (your College) to do a Nursing degree as a mature student (I was 25 I think when I started).

It was incredibly difficult and I almost gave up several times as I just couldn't handle it. If it weren't for Famine and my two best mates, I would've given up. I do wish I'd had the foresight that you do though, to have known what career path I wanted to follow when I was 17.

Where am I now? Doing a job I love, working privately and not for the NHS. I have the word "Manager" in my job title and letters after my name. It's damn hard work doing higher education, but ultimately so worth it as long as you choose the correct profession

 

[Kylehnat]

High school was/is easy. College was/is hard. Very hard.

Quoted for truth. The only friends I have who said college was easy all got useless degrees.

If you're doing it right, university will be the hardest thing you ever do.

That's what I thought until I started to work in industry .

I don't want you to go into university thinking that you can survive if you have the mentality of "high school was hard and I'm tired". You will not.

Absolutely true. You CANNOT half-ass an engineering degree.

Diablo, it sounds like you're burned out from school, and not really in the right frame of mind to start at university. But know this: high school is a waste of time. College was the first schooling I had where I felt like I was actually moving forward with my life. You shouldn't have any of the "this is pointless" feeling in college (well, maybe as you fall asleep in Appreciation of Architecture II ). Whatever you do, make sure you TRULY want to do it. Your life is in your own hands now.

As for my personal experience, I'd say engineering was the right choice for me. Getting the degree in chemical engineering was incredibly difficult, but has been infinitely worth it in more ways than one. I've worked as an engineer for a little more than two years, and even in that short time, I've had some awesomely-successful projects (as well as some not-so-good ones ), been exposed to many different areas of industry, and gained experiences that will stick with me forever. From a career perspective, the doors are wide-open from here. I enjoy what I do now, and I look forward to what lies ahead, wherever it may be. When I look back at my career in 30 years, it's highly unlikely that I'll be disappointed with what I've done. Having some money for toys along the way ain't too bad, either .

Good luck! 👍. And BTW, chemistry is used pretty universally as a weed-out class for all engineering disciplines. The workload and difficulty are indicative of the engineering classes you'd take down the road. Plus, there are always plenty of cute girls in those classes to form study groups with 💡. It's not all bad...

 

[Barracuda]

After your reading your posts and doing a bit of thinking I've realized a few things. I have no right to complain that high school was tough because it wasn't. Looking back I did a good portion of my work in class, and spent my time at home fooling around. Yes there was the occasional hard test that I studied for, but even then I'd procrastinate terribly and end up doing something else. I don't know where I got this notion that I had to try real hard because I really didn't, I guess I just thought that way to make myself think I was better than others. Thanks for kicking me off my high horse, I feel back on track and a lot better about heading into college.

I'm still not sure what I want to do, but at least I'll have two years to really think about it. I've gotten back some of the desire to get into engineering, lets hope it stays that way.

If I can learn anything from someone's experience it will definitely be from my dad. My dad originally went to college to become a civil engineer, but part way through he realized that he didn't like it. He ended up coming out of college with his masters in business and a degree in industrial engineering. He worked for Nike and other similar companies but he hated his job since it was basically his job to make other people hate him. He made decent money, had his own house, owned a 69 Camaro, then a second gen Stingray, but he hated the job and wanted to do something else. He always had a great interest in carpentry so he went into the building industry and he loved it. I wish I could say it was history from there but things never really worked out. At one point he owned his own business, but everyone screwed him over and he ended up having to sell it. He worked as a carpenter all the way until we moved down to Florida where he found a job as a draftsman using Softplan. He's a brilliant drafter and can make complex plans with ease, but after the company laid him off he couldn't find work having not used Autocad in a good 10+ years. He is now 55 and currently employed as a janitor, and with little time left he has a lot of the same things to say, especially to find something that will have a need today and in the future.

 

[Sage]

Quoted for truth. The only friends I have who said college was easy all got useless degrees.

Quoted for truth.

And BTW, chemistry is used pretty universally as a weed-out class for all engineering disciplines. The workload and difficulty are indicative of the engineering classes you'd take down the road.

Double quoted for truth. I can’t even begin to tell you how much we biotech engineers bitch about the chem engineering classes we have to take. In our fluid dynamics class, I very much believe that the chem engineers made up the upper half of the curve and the biotechs made up the bottom half.

---

In engineering, things only get harder. Freshman year I thought “Wow, that was an insane amount of work compared to high school.” Sophomore year I thought “God, there’s no way I’ll ever be as busy as that ever again.” And lo and behold, this year I was at times spending >100 hrs/wk on campus studying and working on projects and averaging 4 hours of sleep per night. And the worst has yet to come, since biotech alumni at UCSD affectionally call next quarter “Hell Quarter”.

It’s tough, but it’s well worth it. In a poopy economy, my job opportunities will be, relatively speaking, fairly amazing. The things I learn in class are incredible, mind-blowing, wonderful, spectacular. And right now I’m working in a nanotech lab on campus, which there is no way I would have gotten in if I weren’t an engineer. Yes, I worked for over 10 hours today at precisely $0/hr, but the skillset I’m developing is invaluable, and within six months I will most likely be a published scientist. That’s an awesome opportunity I have, but opportunities come up because of the time and work you put in to create them.

 

[Sureboss]

*flicks V's at the screen*



I can't offer any Engineering based advice (I didn't quite make it into the RAF when I was 18 to become one of those cool people who fixes aeroplanes) but I can tell you that getting a degree was the best thing I've ever done (workwise, obviously!).

The difference between you and me is that I floated around for a while, not knowing what I wanted to do so I spent 2 years at college (your high school) doing pointless courses, then I spent another 6 years floating from job to job and essentially working to live. I then went to University (your College) to do a Nursing degree as a mature student (I was 25 I think when I started).

It was incredibly difficult and I almost gave up several times as I just couldn't handle it. If it weren't for Famine and my two best mates, I would've given up. I do wish I'd had the foresight that you do though, to have known what career path I wanted to follow when I was 17.

Where am I now? Doing a job I love, working privately and not for the NHS. I have the word "Manager" in my job title and letters after my name. It's damn hard work doing higher education, but ultimately so worth it as long as you choose the correct profession

Ah yes the NHS, I remember it being on the telly at the first LAN at your place, Famine's reaction was amusing.

Also, are those initials STFU or GTFO? Those could go well with a managers title!

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

A lot of good suggestions in here. I would also suggest trying to get hands on in the field via internship. That way you can get a feel of what it is truly like. No matter how much school you take, it is always different when you get into work force. Each job will be different even if its the same title.

 

[Danoff]

A lot of good suggestions in here. I would also suggest trying to get hands on in the field via internship. That way you can get a feel of what it is truly like. No matter how much school you take, it is always different when you get into work force. Each job will be different even if its the same title.

I like this idea. My university had a co-op program where you could get class credit for doing 3 semesters of internship with a company. You need to do very well in your first few semesters of courses in order to land a co-op position though. If you do, you're well set up to get a position with that company when you graduate.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Also, from my experience, dont be afraid to start in a lower position job. The more you know about your career the better engineer you will be. Every position, every job, everything is important one way or another. You said you dont want to be "just Joe Schmoe from down the road that'll change peoples oil, brakes, and tires". But that is still an important position. Just think of how many vehicles come in for an oil change. Each one different, each oil filter and brake location different. Some have great designs with easy access, some are horrible and create a huge mess. A position as easy as this could help you look at engineering in a different perspective. Years down the road when you are designing something you can look back and learn where to and where not to put the filter or how you can make the brakes work better.

You really have to keep an open mind as an engineer. The more hands on you have in every area, the easier it will be to understand how everything works. Plus it looks much better on your resume when you have hands on in different fields or jobs. So many times people will come from college with all the bookwork knowledge and no hands on. They simply just dont understand how things work.

 

[Boundary Layer]

hrm.... I'm a bit late I guess...



I don't know if there's much I can offer that hasn't already been said to make your decision to study engineering any easier. Danoff particularly hit everything on the head in his post, as far as I'm concerned. If you do decide to go for it though, I have a few tips:


1. Your performance in high-school might get you some scholarship money and faster entry into your program as it did in my case. Other than that it is meaningless. You can be as bright as you like, but unless you keep yourself engaged in class, and apply yourself outside of class you'll get nowhere.

Similar to Danoff's story, I breezed through high-school but the first term of engineering in university kicked my ass because I my study habits were horrible. I ended up having to withdraw from two classes as it was extremely unlikely that I'd pass them with the marks I received on midterm tests (and if I did my GPA would have sucked hard). This ended up adding a year to my degree and really messing up my schedule for the remainder of my time in university, but it spared me the time to get a management minor as well, so I like to think it worked out.


2. This point somewhat mimics what CAMAROBOY69 was getting at in his last few posts: If you do decide to get an engineering degree, get involved in as many special programs and technical societies as possible. If it is required that you belong to an engineering association in order to practice in your area (for me it is APEGM) join as a student member if they have such a program and attend as many of their functions as you can.

While in school I got involved in Formula SAE, SAE Aero Design, the local SAE chapter, the engineering student council for one year, ASME & CSME, was an APEGM student member, participated in concrete tobaggan (Canadian thing, dangerous but fun), and did a research paper for NSERC one summer (I'm sure there's something similar in the US). I also had a second year paper entered into a national student design competition. While there was a definite dip in my marks as I got more and more involved in these groups and activities, it was well worth it. By the time I graduated I had tons of contacts with senior engineers and engineering managers in different industries across Canada and had much more practical experience than I could have gathered otherwise.


3. Don't let your language or presentation skills slide. I was told this by two of my uncles (one electrical and one civil engineer) before I started university that at least 30% of my time spent as a junior or intermediate engineer would be checking reports, writing papers, or giving presentations to customers or senior engineers. From what I've experienced so far, this has been true - it's probably closer to 50%.



To answer a few more of the questions from the first post about what some of the ME's on GTP do:

I graduated April 2008 with a BSc ME and minor in business management. I had considered a masters degree, and may still do one in the future, but wanted to get some industry experience first and I'm still not sure where I'd take it.

I've been employed since May 2008 with a local aerospace company, primarily designing and analyzing structure and thermal subsystems for the CSA's small satellite programs, and it has been excellent. The learning curve has been steep, but the work is extremely interesting. I also worked for a few months on a US DoD contract. I probably shouldn't mention too many project particulars, but I did get to personally launch a few rockets at the White Sands Missile Range... and we aren't talking hobby rockets either.

It was actually one of the engineering managers I work for now that I had first met at an APEGM convention who contacted me and called me in to interview for an unadvertised position that I eventually won and accepted. Knowing people works.
They've placed me on the warpath to become the primary (er, only) in-house thermal analyst when the current senior engineer who sometimes fills that role retires in a few years. This is the exact niche area of mechanical engineering that piques my interests the most. I feel very fortunate to have found work in that field so soon after school, and so close to where most of my friends and family are (although... the fact that it is still Winnipeg is a downer).

Salary wise I'm certainly not in the six-figures like Dan says he is (mind you, the cost of living in Winnipeg is certainly nothing like California, and I've only been working a year), but I'm making a considerable amount more than some of my friends that took commerce, or management, or general science degrees.
Of course, money isn't everything, particularly at this stage in my career - I'm more concerned with enjoying the nature of the work and continuing to learn. But just knowing that I've found my way into a good paying industry with a constantly evolving future does make me feel pretty proud.

...On the other side of the spectrum I don't want to become a pencil pusher crunching numbers and going over plans all day while all the real work is being done outside the office....

Obviously I went the opposite route, but I realize it can't be right for everyone. Civil engineering or geoscience does sound like a fit if that sort of thing interests you, though it really just comes down more to the nature of the position you eventually apply for. Several mechies I graduated with found work as field engineers with oil and mining companies, or working for utilities.




Best of luck with your decision.

 

[Barracuda]

I've done a lot of thinking lately and I think I may have figured out what I want to do. I'm still not fully sure but I think I want to go into the auto mechanics field. Quite a lot lower than what I was originally shooting for, which is why I'm having a hard time accepting that as what I want to do. I'm going to talk to a few people and if I finally decide that is what I want to do I'll get my bachelors degree in something basic as a fall back.

I figure I could shoot for working at a classic car restoration shop or maybe even a race team mechanic, but even if I end up just working on regular cars I think that is what I want to do.

I hate being at this point in my life, god I miss high school.

 

[Joey D]

Be sure and talk to a lot of people about it because doing work like that can either go two ways. The first is that you love your job and love working on cars all the time, the second is you don't really mind your job but you hate working on cars which would effectively ruin your hobby. It's the one thing that is preventing me from carrying on with archaeology, I love the thrill of trying to find and figure out something but if I did it for a career I'd probably end up hating it.

However, what you could do is still go to school to learn the auto mechanic's trade. If at some point it starts to ruin your love of working on car you can always teach your skill to others at a university or trade school...even high school if you really want to deal with that.

With that said I think becoming an auto mechanic would be a good profession, especially since people are keeping their cars longer now and having them fixed, instead of just throwing them away. You'll just have to stay current and take all the extra training that is offered to you.

 

[Eric.]

Diablo,

My story was almost identical to yours in public high school. My grades were good, I hated chemistry, I was mechanically inclined, interested in engineering and math, and didn't know what to major in in college.

I picked aerospace engineering, and eventually got a masters in it as well. Currently I'm making 6 figures, have flexible work hours, more vacation than I can use, and one of the coolest jobs you can possibly imagine.

I don't want to scare you, but there's only one major difference between your story and mine. I wasn't trying in high school. I was spending a good amount of time playing video games and goofing off. I rarely took homework home (worked on it in class), and almost never studied for tests... and I almost failed out of my first semester of engineering.

High school was/is easy. College was/is hard. Very hard. Especially if you go to a good one. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I studied all day and all night. I didn't date, I didn't party, I associated only with the people I had class with and only while studying (ok, those are slight exaggerations - I met my wife in college). I vividly remember spending thanksgiving day in a wind tunnel working on my fluid dynamics project.

If you're doing it right, university will be the hardest thing you ever do. They will try to fail you, and they're very good at it.

But there's something you need to understand here. You're at a critical crossroads. Right now you have the same education level that the vast majority of people achieve. You're qualified to sack groceries, clean up messes, and flip burgers. Even flunking out of college would help you get farther than your current level of education will take you (and you'd have fewer regrets). Opting out of college will hinder you for your entire life. No question about it. You've got a good chance of using your muscles to do work rather than your brain - and your salary will be greatly limited by that and the number of people with qualifications equal to or greater than you.

Additionally, you're very much not likely to enjoy your job without a good degree. I want you to think about that for just a moment. You're going to spend an incredible amount of your conscious adult life at work. 8 hours a day is roughly half of the time you're awake. If you consider an hour or two each day for getting to/from work and preparing for work, you're looking at better than 50% of your life while working spent on work. You just might want to like what you do. In fact, you just might want to do something you're proud of spending your life on - something that gives you meaning.

Would you sacrifice 4 years of your life to make the next 35 years good instead of bad? How about 6?

My bachelors degree in engineering, as I said earlier, is the hardest thing I've ever done. The masters was a cake walk by comparison. I don't want you to go into university thinking that you can survive if you have the mentality of "high school was hard and I'm tired". You will not. There is no question. What you need to recognize is that high school is easy, and nothing that's worth the time is ever going to be easy.

Life is hard. You're going to have to work - hard. If you want to be an engineer, you're going to have to sacrifice about 4 years of your life to push yourself harder than you thought you could. But when you emerge, you'll have made the rest of your life that much easier.

I know this is easy for me to say from my comfy office chair in sunny southern California. But you have no idea the pride you'll feel from becoming an engineer or doing the work that comes with engineering. It will literally change your life.

Just want to let you know, that's giving me a little boost here too.

+invisiRep.

 

[nk4e]

Just want to let you know, that's giving me a little boost here too.

+invisiRep.

Somehow, same here but I really need to get back on track and double time it.