It is officially the end of the first week of university classes for me, and I can tell you that I know that I am in the right program (at least, for the moment).
For now anyway. Hopefully that doesn't change over time. I know that the first week of school is generally the easiest, as most tutorials are cancelled, and professors tend to give long lectures about themselves and what they expect from us rather than going over course material. Although, we have started to warm up the sticky tac that is our brain, and get it working. After our introductory lectures, especially for the longer ones, we are doing mostly review, things that I have already learned in high school, and I am glad to say that I remember most, if not all, of it! Aside from the very second day of classes where we had a math preparedness test that I barely passed, things have started coming back to me!
So how do I know that I am in the right program?
This wasn't even the program that I had initially wanted, but God showed me otherwise. God knew me better than I knew myself, and so he placed me in this program [ I had wanted mechatronics engineering, but I got into systems design]. First of all, we need to identify what systems design engineering is. I had the slightest idea when I was packing my things, and moved into res. After attending all the preliminary lectures which introduced the course and the outline, I can state with certainty that systems design engineering is, and I quote my Introduction to Design 161 prof,
" SYDE (systems design engineering) is seeing the big picture, understanding the details and interactions of a system, and their inputs and outputs. SYDE is knowing where the boundaries are between the more specific jobs of [mechanical, industrial, electrical, material] engineers."
Hopefully, by the end of my 5-year study, I will be able to confidently know the basic aspects of all the different strands of engineering, and be able to put them all together. The goal of becoming a systems design engineer is that not only will I be able to find a job faster, as I will be qualified in most engineering fields, but I will also be more adept in taking different components of a project/system and putting it all together as a final product/solution. To me, this seems like something that is even better than just being in a specific strand of engineering. For me, I am always interested in why I am doing something, and how the different components of things work together to form one big thing. Perhaps you could say that the problem with me is that I am in interested in everything engineering has to offer, so I could not just do one strand, but I must dip my fingers in all strands.
Here is what I am doing at school, and why I like it: drafting (technical drawings), designing (creativity), solving problems, programming (getting something to work the way I want it to), following logic (math), and understanding how or why things work the way they do (physics). I have come to realize, after attending all my lectures, that almost everything is about solving a problem.
For example, in my Digital Computation 121 course, I am learning to program. A program is a set of instructions that the computer understands and can execute (thus we have .exe files, known as the actual application - since that's the file we double click on to get it started). In order for the computer to solve this problem, since it only understands binary code (language using only 0s and 1s), we must split up the main problem in to many smaller problems and then even smaller problems, until the computer is able to understand and solve those problems. This is also useful in many other courses I am taking, such as my Graphics 101L Lab, where we learn to draw technical drawings in othographic (shows one side of an object at a time) and isometric (a 3D representation) views, since we are required to be able to output one view with the other view given to us (change from ortho to iso views). We need to split up the object into different parts so that we can effectively draw out an accurate representation of the same object. In calculus, algebra, and physics, we must divide up one main problem into many littler problems, so that we can solve for the unknown variable step by step. This is again useful in my Intro to Design 161 course, where we have to split up the problem (design project) into several smaller components so that we are not overwhelmed by the greatness of the task, and so that the final product will work and solve the initial problem.
As you can see, I have discovered that engineering is all about solving problems - all different types of problems, so that the main task or goal can be accomplished. I am all about problem solving. My personality fits greatly with this field because I am always trying to solve problems. No matter what kind of problem it is. Problems could be social (friends, family, environment), physical (tasks, broken things, messed up cooking, health), or mental (school work, discerning God's will & doing it, overcoming temptation). I have this overwhelming need that everyone is in harmony with one another, that everyone is (generally) happy, and doing well, that broken things are fixed or used in another way, that my food will still be edible and not go to waste, that I'm not doing something that I shouldn't be doing (according to God's will). It can be exhausting, but there is something in me that makes me want to solve problems. I enjoy it, even if it may not always be in the moment, but always in hindsight.
Anyway, I didn't mean to write so much. I am just overly excited to be here, studying things that I actually enjoy and want to study about. I had no idea how much joy I could have, just by going to all my classes, reading all my readings, and doing my homework (don't remind me I said this when exams come along)! Perhaps I am feeling this way because this is just the beginning? Perhaps I have yet to experience what my 5 years of engineering studies have in store for me? Perhaps this is how the school intends to promote their program? Whatever it is, I am sure that being in this program (at least for however long I will be in this program) is exactly what God had in mind for me. I love all my courses right now, although some of my professors are a bit weird, or write confusing notes, or talk way too much, I am enjoying it. Doing work doesn't feel like it's doing work. It feels more like fun, discovery, and if it's something that is difficult and time consuming or boring, then it is part of what I need to do to become who I want to be, and I will do it.
I know that I am more of an introvert, but after going through all the French exchange programs and being on some sports teams and the fellowship committee, I feel like I am becoming more and more extroverted, although I would sometimes still prefer being alone. Being here, in the beginning stage of the next stage in my life (hahaha) helps me to reflect upon previous stages of life, and slowly piecing together God's plan and just gawking at how amazing and wonderful He is, to have planned something like this for me, who doesn't deserve anything! I am slowly learning that hardships are not given to me so that I can fail and drown in misery, but so that I can build myself up to be a stronger woman of God, and because the more hardships I overcome, the more experience I will have and the closer I will be able to come to God!
to be continued....
