The Campus Companion » Sam

The Engineering Major: To Be or Not to Be

Sam — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:49:04 +0000

We all know why someone would major in engineering: it’s the highest paid job right out of college and it virtually guarantees a successful career—presumably a successful life. We’ve all read the mass literature out there on how engineers and computer scientists make more money on average than most other majors. Majoring in romance languages? That’s cute—now you can be unemployed in three languages. So many middle aged adults out there preach to major in something that can get you a job: “just get through four years of it, and you’ll be set with a backup plan for life,” they say. Real romantic, I know.

Then again, we’ve all heard the opposing argument: do what you love; find what you’re passionate about; follow your dreams. The adults mentioned in the above paragraph would object to this concept. Or maybe they’d say the other classic answer: “Sure, major in Film Studies, do what makes you happy, have a ball… Just also major in something that can actually get you a job. You know, so just in case that other stuff doesn’t work out, you won’t be miserable for the rest of your life.”

So who the hell do we believe? What’s college about? Is it about finding yourself and exploring, or is it about getting a degree that will make you competitive in the workforce? Or is it about finding the balance between the two? Is there a balance between the two, or do they implicitly contradict each other?

Well, sadly, I do not have the answers. But I do have insight. Always good in math and science, I went into college thinking I would be an engineer. (The “at least this way you can always get a job” argument just seemed too convincing). But still, I’ve always been artistic—a filmmaker, specifically. And the funny thing is that ever since I made my first movie, I have been able to tell anyone for almost the past decade, never with any doubt, that if I could grow up to be a successful filmmaker, I would do it. (Granted, when I was eight, I said it with more conviction).

Engineering, though? Yeah right. I’ve always been unsure, since the very beginning. “I’ll try it when I get to college. I know I’ll be good at it and it’ll get me a job. Maybe I’ll love it.” And then I took some intro engineering classes. Nope. I didn’t love it. In fact, I really didn’t like it at all. Luckily I took some economics classes and now I’m thinking about majoring in economic strategy (along with filmmaking, but not solo filmmaking for the same argument mentioned above… but hey, at least now the major I’m doing to get myself a job, I actually enjoy). And now I see it more clearly than ever: I’m not an engineer. It’s not for me. Maybe only majoring in filmmaking would be the worst mistake of my life and I’d be sworn to the life of a starving artist. But honestly, I don’t think majoring in something you’re passionate about could ever be worse than majoring in something you dread simply for the money… or even something you simply don’t enjoy. (If it’s something you kind of like, then maybe it is worth it. I don’t know where that line is).

But anyway, I just remember that life is short. Call me a romantic, but my time is precious and I don’t want to waste a minute of it doing something that doesn’t make me happy… or worse, makes me unhappy. It’s important to have confidence in yourself that you can be successful in whatever makes you happy, not just in what other people want you to do, or what is paying the most money out of college. You’ll make money, somehow, by doing what you enjoy. You have the next forty years to figure that part out—it’s like part two of the puzzle. But for now, just find what it is that you enjoy—and hopefully are good at, too!

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Transferring: The Impossible Decision

Sam — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:57:43 +0000

If you’ve been considering transferring colleges but still aren’t quite certain whether to leave your school or not, then there’s no better time to re-evaluate than during the summer.

You’re home. You’re with family and long-time friends. You’re comfortable. Furthermore, you’re away from the place you’re thinking about leaving for good – kind of like going on a break with your significant other before cutting it off for good. People say you don’t know how much you like something until it’s gone. Well, consider this a trial run. If you find yourself wanting it back, then luckily you haven’t made the final irreversible call yet.

Anyone who has gone through the process of considering transferring from a school knows that it is a very different process from selecting a school to attend in the first place. Pros and cons lists won’t work here; this decision is far more emotional. You’ve actually attended an institution for at least a year. And, unless you are utterly and completely miserable (in which case you should hands-down transfer out of there), then you have friends, memories and an established life at the place you’re thinking about leaving. Suddenly it’s not just a question of which place has better academics or smaller class sizes or a better social life… it’s a question of evaluating the life you’ve lived for the past year or two, and asking yourself, “Am I unhappy enough to start over?”

ACADEMICS MEET SOCIAL

Academics are important, right? After all, they’re the reason you’re at school. Is that really true though? College is built into the foundation of the American life cycle. “Best 4 years of your life” is what everyone says… even though that’s total BS. There’s this stigma that college is supposed to be the best 4 years of your life because it’s the last time tons of people the same age are all living together, having a good time.

And that’s just it – that last part right there. In theory, the only thing that would actually make college the best 4 years of your life would be if you’re having a great time with the people around you. Otherwise, it’s not going to be the best years of your life. That’s the ironic part. Because if academics were actually most important at college, no matter what, and automatically trumped any importance in the social life and partying, then people wouldn’t be enjoying it so much.

The truth is that there are far more “party” schools and state schools with party atmospheres, or at least extremely social atmospheres, than there are prestigious, exclusive institutions. And those prestigious institutions also have significantly less people. It’s no coincidence that most people who graduated from Harvard or Yale don’t look back on the experience as the greatest experience of their lives. No doubt they learned more than they probably will in their entire lives (unless they go onto one of those two Law or Med schools), and no doubt they took a tremendous amount of value away from the experience, but for the most part, they didn’t have as an exhilarating college experience, socially, as some of those who attend state schools.(except maybe niche who actually get thrills form staying in their rooms on Friday nights studying).

So, who cares? When you’re weighing your options during the transfer process, between leaving your school and staying, it’s important to consider all aspects. I would argue that non-academic related aspects of college life are equally, if not more, important than academics. That means that the reward you will gain from learning outside the classroom through practical experiences, whether it’s working with other socially-competent people in an extracurricular, or learning how to socialize in what might be an innately awkward situation for you, has the potential to outweigh what a textbook can teach you. I’m not saying the latter is actually less important, but I’m saying the difference between the 50th best college and the 10th best college may not be worth the extra academic prestige if you are sacrificing a lot socially.

And at the end of the day, you should be happy. It may not be the best 4 years of your life, but happiness is important.

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Roommate Stories: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Sam — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 19:02:42 +0000

Starting college in the fall? Well brace yourself. Because unless you were friends with your soon-to-be roommate in high school, it’s any man’s game. This could go one of a few ways, and I’m here to give you a real picture of a few possibilities.

THE GOOD

I got lucky; literally couldn’t have asked for a better roommate situation turnout. And I’m very, very thankful for it.

I went random, because I knew I wanted to branch out and meet new people and I was willing to try my odds. After some early facebook stalking, I concluded my roommate was a total weirdo. But as we got to know each other, we quickly became the best of friends. After only a couple months of knowing each other, it felt like years. The level of weirdness we reached around each other as quickly as we did is astounding, and we’re better for it. He’s a friend for life.

THE BAD

What’s even more unfortunate about this story is that my best friend Jason (name has been changed) didn’t go random, solely in effort to avoid what ultimately happened anyway.

Jason used his school’s roommate finder website to find someone he’d never met before as a roommate for the same reason that I went random: to branch out and get to know someone new. The alleged advantage of roommate finder over picking a random roommate is that you can find people you’ve never met, but pick them based on compatible personality traits. In retrospect, it’s actually comical how excited Jason was about his new roommate Charlie (name has been changed) by the end of the summer. Jason had seen online that Charlie had very similar interests, hobbies and habits. They got in contact and decided to be roommates. Jason even had Charlie over at his house one time that summer to meet him in person (they live in the same state), just to make sure they really got along in person as much as they did over the internet. Things were looking great.

For the first couple weeks, things were fine, but they went downhill pretty quickly. First of all, Charlie had a long distance girlfriend, who Jason knew about and never saw as a problem. But after a week or so at college, Charlie began Skyping his girlfriend for hours and hours at a time, and at odd hours of the night. Jason said it got to the point that Charlie rarely left the room except to eat and go to class. Suddenly his roommate seemed more like a recluse than the sociable, outgoing person Jason thought he had met. But no hate, because how could Jason really judge?

Until Charlie made Jason mad, that is. The first real incident that occurred was when Jason was coming back from the bars one Saturday night with a girl, who he was bringing back to the room. Now, it’s important to note that Charlie’s girlfriend had already visited two or three times, and each visit Jason generously slept out at friends’ rooms to give Charlie and his girlfriend privacy.

So this was the first night Jason was coming back to the room with a girl, and he made sure to text Charlie with a couple hours of advanced notice. But when Jason and this girl returned, Charlie was asleep in his bed. Jason and the girl stayed anyway, and when they accidentally woke Charlie up, Charlie jumped up from bed, yelled at them: “Are you fucking serious?!” and stormed out of the room.

Various other issues between the two continued to build tension throughout the year. But nothing was as bad as what would ultimately happen second semester. One night Jason came back from the bars very intoxicated because had been taken out by his brothers for his birthday celebration. Responsibly, though, his brothers took him back to his dorm room and put him to bed, making sure he was asleep before they left. Charlie, who has never consumed alcohol before, told Jason in their roommate interview that he had no problems with drugs or alcohol whatsoever.

Well, Charlie was sitting there in the room playing Dungeons and Dragons with a few hall mates when Jason was put to bed. Unfortunately, Jason soon woke up (his brothers gone) and began throwing up in the garbage can. Charlie, completely unsure of what to do, decided to go to the RA to tell him “Jason is drunk so don’t come to our room.” The RA then claimed to hear Jason throwing up and went to the room, where he saw Jason throw up, so he was legally obligated to call the police. The police came, saw Jason completely intoxicated and took his wallet off of his dresser to search it and found his fake ID. Jason was arrested and is on one-year probation, of which if he breaks, he will be thrown in jail.

Double check everything your future roommate tells you! Recognize that habits may change so be careful.

THE UGLY

My friend Scott’s first roommate was awful, and I’ll spare you that story. (I guess I’m the lucky one of my friends). Needless to say, that roommate moved out by the end of the first semester. Scott’s second roommate, though, was a trip. “Doesn’t speak a lick of english but we still love him!” I’ll let the following two text message threads speak for themselves.

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