mech engineer questions..

[t-maxxracer32]

im 17 years old and will be going into college right away out of high school.

i am not the type to quit things i will just get lazy. then sooner or later realize i need to finish it up.

the past 2 grading periods in the math class ive gotten a B and then a C only because of the extra credit he gives.

this grading period i have talked to one of my freinds in the class and now instead of listening to the teacher he is just going to teach it to me (he had the class the previous year)

so i should start to enjoy math more once i learn it.

and i am a handson type of guy. i really dont enjoy reading things id rather watch movies on it... i would rather actually build something than having it built for me.

right now i am trying to fix my digital camera... and DAMN is it a PITA. i hope one day to be a "handyman" kind of husband. just be able to have the skills to fix anything.

I worked part time thru undergrad at a local hdw store where I was Mr Fixit for that area - there was nothing I couldn't or wouldn't fix (if the boss let me - sometimes it would take way too long, lol!). I'm more hands on too, I wanted a practical education not a theoretical one, part of the reason I chose the school I went too. I was always the one in class asking how this was applied to a real world problem.

I had a younger bro right behind me - exactly 4 yrs after me. I had to get out cause Mom and Dad couldn't do both of us at once. After the 1st summer break I went year round - def not the way to do things. Take your time, make sure this is what you want to study. Work in somebody's summer intern program, gives you some 1st hand exposure to what the job would be like if you worked for that company in their part of the industry, excellent way to gain experience for when you do graduate.

I'm the 1st engineer in my family, my Dad was a prison warden - I had no idea what the job was going to be like - I just knew I had always been mechanically inclined and liked to figure out how things came apart and worked.

[Getter Robo]

Do you have some kind "Ecenomy Engineer" degree in the US?

[JERRY2KONE]

So from what you have read in this thread up to now you can see that if you plan on a career in engineering then yes you will need to learn a lot of math. That is just hte nature of the field. But the real question is what do you really want to do? We all end up doing some things that we do not particularly like or want to do. That is just life. If you spend 4 to 6 years going to school are you really going to use that education to forward yourself into the career you want. The one thing that way too many people end up doing is getting into a job that makes them miserable. You have to do something that brings out your passionate side so you don't lose interest. Engineering just clicks for some people naturally. The rest force themselves to love it because of the money spent on the education instead of actually loving what they do.

Obviously there are some smart people on this site who have done well for themselves in this field. So take in all of our information, but you have to decide that engineering is truly what you want to do for the rest of your life. If that is your decision then you will fight to learn the math your way. Don't let some moron change your mind because he is bored with what he does. Maybe your teacher is a great engineer, but just a lousy teacher. Try talking with him/her and maybe you will help them realize that they need to make a change in the way they teach. Think positive and positive things will happen for you.

[lxmuff]

Lot's of good advise. I'm an ME as well. Duster_360 is putting it well in perspective. I went to college 7 years after being in the Navy right out of high school.

The bottom line is you will have at least 4 semesters of Calculus in which you will need some sort of calculus to pass the other engineering classes. You will have to be very comfortable in math out in the field too. You won't need to memorize all of the functions you learned in school, you just have be able to apply them and understand them.

And from the first part, you don't have to go right out of High School. Good luck.

Duster_360, my ebay id is 73duster340. I rebuilt the entire thing in my garage.

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by t-maxxracer32

i am not the type to quit things i will just get lazy. then sooner or later realize i need to finish it up.

i really dont enjoy reading things id rather watch movies on it... i would rather actually build something than having it built for me.

You will find in college that you will have to give up that "do it later rather than sooner". I had several instructors who found pride in the number of students they flunked.

I also somewhat understand your comment about "not reading" in that I have a 17 year old at home that thinks the same thing. In "real" life, you will get out of it what you put into it.

I had an instructor in college that kinda woke me up after I had flunked his class. He asked me how much I thought I would make when I graduated, and how much a year of college costs. Add those two up and that's what I threw away by having to be there another year.

Hickoryhead - you are an IDEAL candidate to get a degree, if not in engineering, then in a IE masters program. You could equate it to "the icing on the cake" to your career. Right now you are in your prime. Someday, you will be 40 something, and wont be able to keep your eyes open later than 8:00 pm.

[t-maxxracer32]

Originally Posted by JThiessen

You will find in college that you will have to give up that "do it later rather than sooner". I had several instructors who found pride in the number of students they flunked.

I also somewhat understand your comment about "not reading" in that I have a 17 year old at home that thinks the same thing. In "real" life, you will get out of it what you put into it.

I had an instructor in college that kinda woke me up after I had flunked his class. He asked me how much I thought I would make when I graduated, and how much a year of college costs. Add those two up and that's what I threw away by having to be there another year.

Hickoryhead - you are an IDEAL candidate to get a degree, if not in engineering, then in a IE masters program. You could equate it to "the icing on the cake" to your career. Right now you are in your prime. Someday, you will be 40 something, and wont be able to keep your eyes open later than 8:00 pm.

lol that is an eye opener!! i just lost 50-60 thousand dollars by flunking one class

and ya hickoryhead imagine what you could do with a freakin degree! DAYUM!!! but i guess its just a waste of time for you. hell you are making whatd you say 83k a year? why would you want to waste 4 years going to college when you can just keep doin that 83k.

i think that some people are just brought up well and get lucky (like hickoryhead) im sure you had to work hard to get there but you know you are lucky to be getting paid that without a college degree. you just knew the right people at the right time.

[JERRY2KONE]

If you believe in luck that is great, but most people don't just fall into a good career. Right Hickoryhead? They have to work hard no matter what it is that they do. There is a lot of compitiion out there who want to knock you off of the top just to try and get your position. So you have to be on your game 24/7 in order to compete. It is not just about getting an education. You have to jump right into the work force and make a reputation for yourself. That is what gets you to the top. Either that or a ton of butt kissing.

Believe me when I tell you that there are also a lot of people employed out there that have no idea what the hell they are doing. You have to wonder how in the hell they got passed the age of 20 without getting into some kind of accident or electricuting themselves. If you find your nitch and you truly put your best foot forward nothing can stop you. If you look for the easy way every single day it will bite you in the ass sooner or later. If you expect to lay back with a degree and the jobs will come to you, then you have a lot to learn. There are no free rides unless your family name is Hilton, or richy.

Life is tough and it never stops. My Dad used to tell me life is like a speeding train going down the tracks. You can either get off of your butt and climb aboard to enjoy the ride, or sit there and watch it go by. That is the choice we all have to make every single day. So mkae you choice and get moving. Life is good, if you make it that way.

[t-maxxracer32]

Originally Posted by JERRY2KONE

If you believe in luck that is great, but most people don't just fall into a good career. Right Hickoryhead? They have to work hard no matter what it is that they do. There is a lot of compitiion out there who want to knock you off of the top just to try and get your position. So you have to be on your game 24/7 in order to compete. It is not just about getting an education. You have to jump right into the work force and make a reputation for yourself. That is what gets you to the top. Either that or a ton of butt kissing.

Believe me when I tell you that there are also a lot of people employed out there that have no idea what the hell they are doing. You have to wonder how in the hell they got passed the age of 20 without getting into some kind of accident or electricuting themselves. If you find your nitch and you truly put your best foot forward nothing can stop you. If you look for the easy way every single day it will bite you in the ass sooner or later. If you expect to lay back with a degree and the jobs will come to you, then you have a lot to learn. There are no free rides unless your family name is Hilton, or richy.

Life is tough and it never stops. My Dad used to tell me life is like a speeding train going down the tracks. You can either get off of your butt and climb aboard to enjoy the ride, or sit there and watch it go by. That is the choice we all have to make every single day. So mkae you choice and get moving. Life is good, if you make it that way.

when i said luck i guess you took it wrong. what i mainly meant was that he was lucky to have the resources he did to accomplish all of that.

almost all of my freinds parents own companies so they are extremely good at what there parents do for a living. they are lucky that they have the tools to excede what others do.

i figured that is what happened with hickory... maybe his dad knew someoen in the business and that is all how it started.

if not then that is truly amazing and i hope to be like that one day.

im not saying at all that hickory hasnt worked im just saying from my experience you have to know the right people for that kind of stuff to happen.

[JERRY2KONE]

No biggy Tmaxxracer32. Luck is a relative term, and quite honestly I don't believe that luck has anything to do with our successes or failures in real life. you either do what you need to do, or you don't. The advice we are all trying to share with you is that you have to work hard if you want the success you hope for in the ME field or anything else you may want out of life.

At the start of this discussion your question was kind of wavering about having to learn math in order to get the level of satisfaction out of the ME field that you hope for. Math is what engineering is all about. So if you want to be an ME then math is your ticket to the big game. The poor teachings of your instructor/professor is merely a roadblock that you have to find a way to overcome. Life is full of them. Working with your friend who was a former student of his may be just the ticket you need in order to work your way around this, but if not then you have to find another way. Going to school in another location may be the answer. You have a million options to deal with and no one is going to make this happen for you, now it is time for you to cowboy up and "Get-er-done" if you want to succeed We wish you the best success that you are capable of.

[Hickoryhead]

This is why I come to these forums. Not just RC is talked about but every now and then we get another great thread is started. T-Maxx your right about some stuff and then wrong. “Wrong” is not the word. Maybe just young. I have never used my parents name or friends to get ahead in this world. I have built my experience and reputation purely with my own 2 hands. The one thing my dad did to help me was teach me a good work ethic. I don’t know what you have done for work in your life but I am sure you have had co-workers that do 80% of a job and stop. My father never let me stop at 80%. It was either 100% or nothing. Growing up I hated doing some of the little stuff or the 20%. But 20% is 1\5 of a project or job. That’s a big part. I owe everything to my father for instilling that in me. Besides that my reputation is my own. So to set the record straight the Cabinet job and the Stair company I worked for both did multi-million dollar jobs. Both companies’ bosses came looking for me based on my reputation. I did not know either of them by face. I had heard there names but nothing else. I did not go apply for a job with them. One of them tracked me down in a Wal-mart. Both knew of me. In this my reputation carried me. But I was also lucky to have been taught by some good people. The experience I have comes from some great people. It would be like Michael Jordan teaching you to play basketball. You would play better learning from him then a little league coach. College has that for you. They bring together some great professors to teach you. Some of them are the top levels of their fields. Believe it or not I was looking at Robotic engineering at Penn State. It sounded great to me. But I found I loved simple building and construction. So I gave up going to college for something I love. I have never looked back. JThiesses has a good point. A degree would help me get more money. It would be the icing on the cake. I am fine were I am at. I have enough and that’s what counts. I don’t want to be a millionaire. I have no more need for more money than what I have right now. Money is not happiness. You can’t buy it. But your happiness is for sale. If you spend 16 hours at a job you like but your family hates then you have sold their happiness. Greed is bad. That’s why I won’t get a degree. I don’t see the point. I do get irritated with people above me in a management position that have a degree and my work makes them look good and they get paid 40K to 60K more. That bugs me like you would not believe but that is a choice I choose. There are some that will get a good career based on luck but they will not go far because luck will not build a work ethic or reputation. LOL I had to laugh at Jerry’s train story. It is so right. I look at the world the same way. There are 2 types of people here. 1 type is just surviving. They go to a 9 to 5 job 5 days a week and wonder why they hate their job and life. They usually live in a poor area of any town and don’t really care. Then there is the other type. They are conquerors. They want more then just the minimum out of life. They want better and will work for it. Which type are you??? As an engineer you figure out problems. I see a problem in your thinking. You said “almost all of my friend’s parents own companies so they are extremely good at what there parents do for a living. They are lucky that they have the tools to exceed what others do.” What tools do you have that you are not using? If you think your friend have tools look at the problem in another way. What tools do you have? Stop thinking about what you don’t have but use what you do. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. I have plenty of weaknesses but I use what I have for strengths. Learn yours. You’re too young to worry about all this. You don’t have to decide what to do for your life right now. The average American today changes careers not just jobs but careers every 7 years. WOW. Do what you love, the money will follow. I hope this is not too much to read.