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How do you know if becoming an engineer is the right career field? What signs give assurance?

I am truly in love with math and science. Both of these topics come natural to me and I would like to pursue a career that uses both of these areas. I feel that engineering encompasses these two things, but I am unsure if it is right for me. My mom is an electrical engineer for both Consumers Energy and the military. When I asked her when she knew she wanted to be an engineer, she gave me a specific moment. I just want to know if and what this moment will be for me. #college #engineering #college-bound #stem-education #decision-making #signs #undecided

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Peter’s Answer

Riki:


I can't think of a specific moment where I suddenly knew I would be happy and satisfied in a career as an engineer. Engineering involves exploring a problem and using your background and experience to develop one or more solutions. You then apply a systematic process using engineering methods to solve the problem in a practical and cost-effective manner. So if you can take on a challenge and enjoy doing detailed analytical work to solve that problem, engineering can be a personally rewarding career. I am a Civil Engineer and I have always found great satisfaction in working on projects that directly benefit communities and the environment.


I hope this helps, Pete Sturtevant, Pete Sturtevant, PE
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Shawn’s Answer

Hi Riki!
I'm not sure if it was a particular moment for me but something I reflected on that made me realize I enjoy engineering, particularly software engineering. For me I love making, I love learning code and tech, I love solving problems. I get so much joy from building solutions and making things work, both for personal project like making a simple video game to solving large multi-year projects for huge organizations. For me, engineering is a state of being. If you love to tinker, if you love to solve problems, if you love dig in a figure out how something works, wether its software, mechanical, biological, art, technological, etc. You are probably an engineer.

One great book I recently read was by the Mythbuster Adam Savage called "Every Tool's a Hammer: Life is What You Make It" (https://www.amazon.com/Every-Tools-Hammer-Life-What/dp/1982113472). It is a fun read or, if you like to hear Adam talk, get the audio book and listen while you work on something. If you get excited and/or can relate to anything he talks about, you are probably an engineer.

Stay curious and passionate about what you do.

Regards,
Shawn Recinto
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Derek’s Answer

Engineering will always be in demand and I've always found joy in building things. While engineering is incredibly difficult to study (I nearly quit once or twice), it is very rewarding to have finished such an intense program and build cool things like rockets. If you want to know if engineering is for you, join a club like FIRST robotics or something similar to test the waters. I am a huge science nerd and while I like math am have always been average at it.
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