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aibarr · 02-26-2008, 01:51 PM

I'm not sure there are a whole ton of people listening who've been through what you're going through, but I don't want your post to be met with resounding silence...

I'm 26 and working on my PE license as a structural graduate engineer right now, so you know a little about my background.

A few things strike me about what you've said.

1) You seem very motivated, and you've got a much better motivation behind your actions than most college freshmen out there. I think that's probably a really good indicator that you'll be able to do this.

2) You may not be strong in math, but you have recent experience with math. You're not trying to remember math all over again, like a lot of people who're going back to get a degree have to do, you've been working on it recently, and are almost up to the level at which most college students start out.

3) It sounds like you've been teaching *yourself* math, at least to a certain degree, which is just amazingly impressive to me... Without guidance or someone to explain things to me, I would probably have been completely lost. As it were, not everyone going into engineering is ridiculously good at math. In fact, some of the people going into engineering are pretty *bad* at math. Math is one of those things that most of us have to just deal with in order to get where we want to go... We don't relish the idea, we don't always thrive, sometimes we barely limp across the finish line, but we end up across the finish line nonetheless.

I believe that engineering is more about perseverence than total proficiency. I think interest in the subject and a desire to pursue the profession, along with hard work and liberal use of the resources available, is enough to make it. I think concerned-but-motivated is what we all start out our careers as, and I think that you'll struggle, as we all do, but that you'll come out the other end of the tunnel more appreciative of your education, and that you'll have more than enough motivation and determination to get through the tunnel in the first place. Just don't hesitate to ask for help, stay diligent in making sure that you understand everything (getting-lost-in-math adds up, over time... make sure you don't get so lost behind the complicated mathematics that you can't catch up), and keep going forward.

Best of luck to you!

02-26-2008, 01:51 PM	#2
aibarr Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 2,122	I'm not sure there are a whole ton of people listening who've been through what you're going through, but I don't want your post to be met with resounding silence... I'm 26 and working on my PE license as a structural graduate engineer right now, so you know a little about my background. A few things strike me about what you've said. 1) You seem very motivated, and you've got a much better motivation behind your actions than most college freshmen out there. I think that's probably a really good indicator that you'll be able to do this. 2) You may not be strong in math, but you have recent experience with math. You're not trying to remember math all over again, like a lot of people who're going back to get a degree have to do, you've been working on it recently, and are almost up to the level at which most college students start out. 3) It sounds like you've been teaching yourself math, at least to a certain degree, which is just amazingly impressive to me... Without guidance or someone to explain things to me, I would probably have been completely lost. As it were, not everyone going into engineering is ridiculously good at math. In fact, some of the people going into engineering are pretty bad at math. Math is one of those things that most of us have to just deal with in order to get where we want to go... We don't relish the idea, we don't always thrive, sometimes we barely limp across the finish line, but we end up across the finish line nonetheless. I believe that engineering is more about perseverence than total proficiency. I think interest in the subject and a desire to pursue the profession, along with hard work and liberal use of the resources available, is enough to make it. I think concerned-but-motivated is what we all start out our careers as, and I think that you'll struggle, as we all do, but that you'll come out the other end of the tunnel more appreciative of your education, and that you'll have more than enough motivation and determination to get through the tunnel in the first place. Just don't hesitate to ask for help, stay diligent in making sure that you understand everything (getting-lost-in-math adds up, over time... make sure you don't get so lost behind the complicated mathematics that you can't catch up), and keep going forward. Best of luck to you!