mech engineer questions..

[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.

[JERRY2KONE]

Way to go Hickoryhead. No that was not too long. I think we are over loading this poor guys mind though. Don't worry Tmaxx we are not mad at you. You asked the question and we are just trying to ram a few points home so that you will think a little bit harder about what you want to do. The one good thing that I see that you have is ambition. Most kids your age are still not done partying. Growing up I just did not see the point of all the booze and drugs to have fun. yeah I got drunk almost every day the first year that I was in the navy in Scotland at age 18, but finally realized that I was wasting my time and money on something that was hurting me more then it was worth. Just like smoking. You can try to justify it any way that you like, but it still adds up to nothing good.

You are at least wanting to get your life going at an early age. Knuckle down and give whatever you decide to do a fighting effort. Stop thinking about how screwed up the teacher is. If that holds you back then you will only have yoruself to blame. Hey Hickory I am glad you liked the speeding train story. I used to put that out there training recruits in boot camp every day to motivate them, and it really did make some of them think about where they wanted to go with their lives. My Father also taught me about risk. If you are not out there taking calculated risks in some way, then what the hell is the point in living. Do you want to stay in bed all day hiding from the world or get out there and experience life.

Tmaxx all we hope to do is help you in some small way that may connect our experiences with your way of thinking so you can move forward without any doubt as to what it is that you want out of your efforts. Plus everyone needs to know that if you just coast along letting Crap happen as the saying goes, then don't be angry when it amounts to a pile of the same stuff down the road that you have to deal with. I am all about motivating anyone who needs a gentle push to get moving. So just tell us what your thoughts are and we will be more than happy to assist you in some way. Have a good day man.