- #1
coreluccio
- 35
- 2
Hi All,
Recently I graduated with a BSc in mechanical engineering. I excelled greatly in studying engineering, and finished at the top of my class.
I'm 27 and didn't start my degree until I was 23. I didn't graduate high school at 18 (I dropped out after never having applied myself in junior or senior high school) and decided at at the age of 20 that I needed to at least finish my high school education. I started with a grade 11 math course. For the first time in my life, I applied myself academically. I found that I loved math. I excelled at it. I then did the remaining math courses (including introductory calculus). I loved those courses too. I found calculus beautiful. After that I completed the high school physics and chemistry courses. I loved these courses. It was awe-inspiring to learn about nature from a logical, analytical perspective.
After I finished up my high school courses, I decided I would enter university. My father is an engineer and so naturally I was inclined to study engineering. I thought that since engineering involved mathematics, physics, even chemistry in some disciplines, that I would love engineering since I loved all of these subjects. So I applied and was accepted to engineering.
At the time I was naive and didn't realize that engineering is itself not science. I didn't realize that engineering is about design. I didn't realize that it wasn't physics. I didn't realize that it didn't even involve physics unless a particular problem required use of physics. I certainly didn't expect to learn so little new physics during my engineering studies. It was MY mistake for not doing thorough enough research to really figure out if engineering was for me. But hindsight is 20-20 and I'm not sure now if, even if I had done more investigation into what engineering really is about, I would've not studied it.
Despite all this, I did enjoy many of my engineering classes. I enjoyed the fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and dynamics courses that are fundamental to mechanical engineering. I guess I enjoyed all of the theoretical courses that do, in many respects, touch on the physics of certain phenomena (without really learning any new physics, if that makes sense). For example, in advanced fluid mechanics I was in awe of the idea of using a converging-divegring nozzle to accelerate subsonic to supersonic flow. I found it incredible that shocks could develop and that, across these shocks, a sharp discontinuity in flow properties could exist. I also loved the sequence of math courses I took. While most people hated ODEs, I loved them. I loved multivariable calculus. It was so beautiful and interesting. Triple integrals on arbitrary 3-dimensional bodies and the Divergence Theorem left me in awe. I will say that the only lectures I ever sat through and was truly happy to be there were my math lectures.
Then came mechanical design. Oh god how I hate mechanical design. I took a mechanical design group project course in each of my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years (3 courses in total). I hated these courses. It's difficult to explain why. I will say that I hated the "team" aspect. I hated designing something arbitrarily and analyzing it in an ad-hoc way. I just completely hated the conceptual, detailed, and final design stages of design. I hope never to have to design a mechanical thing again. I'm not sure if it's specifically mechanical design I hate, or design in general.
From the first term of my freshmen year, I felt this weird feeling. This feeling that I should be studying physics rather than engineering. I'd watch Feynman lectures on YouTube while doing statics assignments in 1st year. After my 2nd year, I seriously considered switching to physics. I didn't listen to my heart though. I didn't realize that the past two years were a sunk cost. I continued on and graduated last April.
At my graduation, I wasn't even happy to be graduating. It was an empty feeling. Now, here I am, posting on this forum. I've been unable to land a job. I've had interviews, but I think employers do pick up on the fact that something about me is not right. I'm not passionate about engineering. They can understand it simply from the tone of my voice. I feel in many ways depressed simply because I feel like I'm not following my heart.
I could, now, spend the next three years taking undergraduate physics courses before applying to grad school for a PhD in physics (should I want to go that route). I'd do undergraduate research and hopefully that would be enough to bypass an MSc.
I could also see if it would be possible to enrol now, or in a year perhaps, in a physics MSc, and do undergraduate courses while I start researching whatever my thesis topic would be (if it is even possible to perform coherent research without first establishing a solid foundation in modern physics).
A third option could be to seek out an engineering professor who does research that blurs the line between engineering and physics. I know one such professor in the department that I graduated from who collaborates on fundamental fluid mechanics research with a professor from the department of physics at the same university. I could then jump straight into an engineering MSc with research that partially satisfies my interest in physics. However, I would only learn more about fluid dynamics. I wouldn't learn about modern physics which is what I would really like to do.
The problem I am having is realizing that I'm 27. I live at home still and society tells me it's time to move out, to get married, and to have kids. If I choose to spend the next 7 or 8 years in intense study, all of that may be put on hold. And at that point, who's to say I won't be unhappy for having spent 7 or 8 years studying when I could have been doing those other things?
I'm sorry for such a long post and would appreciate any advice anyone may have.
Recently I graduated with a BSc in mechanical engineering. I excelled greatly in studying engineering, and finished at the top of my class.
I'm 27 and didn't start my degree until I was 23. I didn't graduate high school at 18 (I dropped out after never having applied myself in junior or senior high school) and decided at at the age of 20 that I needed to at least finish my high school education. I started with a grade 11 math course. For the first time in my life, I applied myself academically. I found that I loved math. I excelled at it. I then did the remaining math courses (including introductory calculus). I loved those courses too. I found calculus beautiful. After that I completed the high school physics and chemistry courses. I loved these courses. It was awe-inspiring to learn about nature from a logical, analytical perspective.
After I finished up my high school courses, I decided I would enter university. My father is an engineer and so naturally I was inclined to study engineering. I thought that since engineering involved mathematics, physics, even chemistry in some disciplines, that I would love engineering since I loved all of these subjects. So I applied and was accepted to engineering.
At the time I was naive and didn't realize that engineering is itself not science. I didn't realize that engineering is about design. I didn't realize that it wasn't physics. I didn't realize that it didn't even involve physics unless a particular problem required use of physics. I certainly didn't expect to learn so little new physics during my engineering studies. It was MY mistake for not doing thorough enough research to really figure out if engineering was for me. But hindsight is 20-20 and I'm not sure now if, even if I had done more investigation into what engineering really is about, I would've not studied it.
Despite all this, I did enjoy many of my engineering classes. I enjoyed the fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and dynamics courses that are fundamental to mechanical engineering. I guess I enjoyed all of the theoretical courses that do, in many respects, touch on the physics of certain phenomena (without really learning any new physics, if that makes sense). For example, in advanced fluid mechanics I was in awe of the idea of using a converging-divegring nozzle to accelerate subsonic to supersonic flow. I found it incredible that shocks could develop and that, across these shocks, a sharp discontinuity in flow properties could exist. I also loved the sequence of math courses I took. While most people hated ODEs, I loved them. I loved multivariable calculus. It was so beautiful and interesting. Triple integrals on arbitrary 3-dimensional bodies and the Divergence Theorem left me in awe. I will say that the only lectures I ever sat through and was truly happy to be there were my math lectures.
Then came mechanical design. Oh god how I hate mechanical design. I took a mechanical design group project course in each of my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years (3 courses in total). I hated these courses. It's difficult to explain why. I will say that I hated the "team" aspect. I hated designing something arbitrarily and analyzing it in an ad-hoc way. I just completely hated the conceptual, detailed, and final design stages of design. I hope never to have to design a mechanical thing again. I'm not sure if it's specifically mechanical design I hate, or design in general.
From the first term of my freshmen year, I felt this weird feeling. This feeling that I should be studying physics rather than engineering. I'd watch Feynman lectures on YouTube while doing statics assignments in 1st year. After my 2nd year, I seriously considered switching to physics. I didn't listen to my heart though. I didn't realize that the past two years were a sunk cost. I continued on and graduated last April.
At my graduation, I wasn't even happy to be graduating. It was an empty feeling. Now, here I am, posting on this forum. I've been unable to land a job. I've had interviews, but I think employers do pick up on the fact that something about me is not right. I'm not passionate about engineering. They can understand it simply from the tone of my voice. I feel in many ways depressed simply because I feel like I'm not following my heart.
I could, now, spend the next three years taking undergraduate physics courses before applying to grad school for a PhD in physics (should I want to go that route). I'd do undergraduate research and hopefully that would be enough to bypass an MSc.
I could also see if it would be possible to enrol now, or in a year perhaps, in a physics MSc, and do undergraduate courses while I start researching whatever my thesis topic would be (if it is even possible to perform coherent research without first establishing a solid foundation in modern physics).
A third option could be to seek out an engineering professor who does research that blurs the line between engineering and physics. I know one such professor in the department that I graduated from who collaborates on fundamental fluid mechanics research with a professor from the department of physics at the same university. I could then jump straight into an engineering MSc with research that partially satisfies my interest in physics. However, I would only learn more about fluid dynamics. I wouldn't learn about modern physics which is what I would really like to do.
The problem I am having is realizing that I'm 27. I live at home still and society tells me it's time to move out, to get married, and to have kids. If I choose to spend the next 7 or 8 years in intense study, all of that may be put on hold. And at that point, who's to say I won't be unhappy for having spent 7 or 8 years studying when I could have been doing those other things?
I'm sorry for such a long post and would appreciate any advice anyone may have.