everything ‘kittycat’ wrote… {{clap clap}}
My undergrad degree? English Literature and Biology. My graduate background? Management.
My background: 20 yrs military space logistics management, working with the remaining defense firms launching GPS, comsats and other cool stuff. I get yelled at, made fun of. I can still prank with the best of 'em. You are not alone, even at your age. You are going to think about this more than once during your lifetime. I still do.
Capitalizing on the ‘internship’ experience, I made a plan during my undergrad years to be OUT of my university within 4 years (is graduating on-time still possible?). Anyway, I graduated **early **due to an unfortunate circumstance: I applied to medical school and got the ‘thin’ envelope.
I went to Plan B: Have something in the back pocket. That ‘back pocket’ was the four-year, paid internship with the Air Force. Those four years on various space and missile acquisitions gave me some of the best experience - nonstop. Even today, **my **interns - go through the exact same training cycle I went through 20 years ago. I was given a ‘mentor’ to lead, guide me through the episodes of b.s. I learned from some of the greatest aerospace minds who showed me ‘rolling up sleeves’ and working for a living, wasn’t really that tough.
But you must - pay your dues. Your dues? the ’ job inside my cube’ making a difference.’ Your dues? Being able to take criticism and understanding why Senior VP Smith said what she thought about your project. Your dues? Being able to understand ‘immediate gratification’ is not part of the Engineering model, or life in general… unless you’re part of the ‘privileged class’ per se. Delete those feelings of being “closed in.” Find an internship that will let you soar! (Sorry for the pun).
I earned my graduate degree only after it became mandatory within Mother Air Force (Space) to have a masters in order to be promoted and remain competitive. I learned that was bush; still, there were ideals within the study of management I needed to learn. For example, I can design a support system around a satellite system blindfolded. Can I program a budget against the rest of the FYDP?
Not on your life. I’m still learning even today. I know the basics (we deal in billions & billions of dollars); I have a financial management team who does that for me.
Can I get rid of people? No. I cannot. I hold onto them too long. My bad decision(s). Even B-School texts and classroom experience can’t help me out of this one; experience does.
Bottomline - Get the experience, a mentor. There is no such thing as ‘immediate gratification’ in Engineering. Some things are best learned ‘in the field’ vice the classroom.
One more thing: (shameless recruiting plug insert here) We’re hiring engineers, too!
Good luck and enjoy your undergrad years… make an ‘impact’ that way.
