Selleck

Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: "Rainbow In The Dark" by Dio

From the looks of things, my career here at Purdue is going to stretch into the Five Year Plan. While the typical Four Years would be nice, there are a few reasons I think this is happening:

1) It's becoming more commonplace. Statistically, college students (at least in the US) are just taking longer to complete their degrees, often because of remedial courses, switching majors, studying abroad, increasing cost, and other reasons.
2) There's an "ideal" engineering track of classes, and I am behind. I missed physics in high school, so that added a class. I retook Calc II (for all of the good it did me), and will be retaking Linear Algebra, and there's a chance I'll retake another before I'm done here. I'm stubborn like that, and dammit, I want to be an engineer.
3) I'm not in any hurry to leave. That's probably part of the reason I skipped summer classes this year- because I'm enjoying Purdue and don't mind a little delay into the real world. And it's pretty stressful to rush it.
4) Engineering is fucking difficult. If you're a doctor or a lawyer, they expect you to go to school longer. We are expected, however, to cram an equivalent curriculum into four years (though it's fairly normal to get a good job right after graduation in doing so). I know very few engineers that are getting out in four. Perhaps we just normalize it to ourselves.

-that said-

I'm weeks from starting my Junior year at Purdue University as an Aerospace Engineer and I'm both frightened and excited. I miss being busy, being focused, driven, productive, and doing very challenging and engaging work. I don't miss exams. Classes start August 21st, just under a month's time. I feel like I'm not smart enough- that I've fooled several people. It seems like such a short time ago I was a lost freshman at Boiler Gold Rush trying to find my way to campus and struggling with ENGR 106. True, every semester has been a struggle, and I don't think that's going to stop anytime soon. I think having such great friends and weekly fun at improv keeps me from noticing the slow and steady (often difficult) progress.

If I were going for Four Years, I'd be at the halfway point already. In reality, judging number of classes/content, I think this upcoming semester is the peak of the mountain. Not that it's going to get much easier afterward (Senior Design!), but I do feel like I'm reaching the midpoint here soon- the hump day of my major and perhaps my collegiate experience. Especially given my classes this semester- Differential Equations 1, Linear Algebra, Aero Structures Lab, Intro Psych, and the most dreaded class of all- Thermodynamics.

Perhaps a bit of explanation. Thermo is that class that makes the younger engineers quiver, and the old ones shudder. Its mere name is mentioned with a whisper. It's the class that owns you. The weed out class that's really not a weed out class- it's just brutal. The class where the professor takes all two hours to complete the exam. The class where "look to your left and look to your right...one of these people will not finish this class" and "it's normal to cry after the first exam" are direct quotes from the professor.

So I guess I've got my work cut out for me.

I feel better looking back (even as a Junior- this post makes it sound like I'm about to graduate) and seeing some accomplishments, seeing where I stand after two years at Purdue:

Improv
uninvolved freshman -> curious visitor -> occasional participant -> regular contributor -> performer -> webmaster and occasional MC -> President and Captain of the Ship of Fools

Finances
broke -> more broke -> mega broke

Relationships
single -> a date -> single -> Halloween Party -> stable nine month relationship with Jenny

Academics
hopeful high school graduate -> freshman engineer -> uncertain but determined sophomore engineer -> junior aeronautical engineer

Research
aero student -> research peon/assistant to Professor DeLaurentis

Work
unemployed -> Student Office Staff at Hillenbrand -> Summer Operations Assistant -> veteran Student Office Staff at Hillenbrand

Housing
McCutcheon Hall -> Cincinnati -> Hillenbrand Hall -> RA room at Hillenbrand -> apartment