My First Semester of College

I have developed in many different ways over the semester, whether it be academically, socially, or personally.  I have definitely become more responsible since coming to college.  In high school, if the homework was optional I did not do it.  I waited to study until the night before the exam and usually did fine.  Since coming to college, I realize that my study method in high school would not work here.  I do all of my assignments as soon as possible in order to stay on top of my work.  I do the past midterms that are posted to prepare for the tests.  While being more responsible academically, I have also had to be more responsible as an individual.  In high school, all of my classes were back-to-back with a lunch break, and my mom made me breakfast and dinner.  Now I have to plan when to study, when to eat, and when to leave to make all of my classes on time.  My schedule can be planned however I want it to be and I do not rely on anyone else.  Professors do not care if you don’t go to their lectures anymore, so I am able to skip whenever I please, but I go to class to learn the material because I know that it is my responsibility to learn and get a good grade on the tests.  I have also grown socially.  I have met new people from my dorm, classes, and intramural teams.  It is a new environment, so it was originally hard to meet new people, but as the semester comes to an end I am slowly meeting more and more people.  I plan to continue growing by joining more clubs.  I want to join more clubs that have an emphasis on mechanical engineering so I can get more experience.  As the semester has gone on, I have been keeping on top of my work, but I have procrastinated slightly more.  Next semester, I will figure out a way that I will not burn myself out in the beginning of the year.

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering Meeting

On October 30 I went to a monthly meeting for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers.  I am unsure of whether I want to pursue mechanical or industrial engineering, so I got to learn more about ISE at the meeting.  Steve DeNunzio talked about the Master of Business Logistics Engineering.  I have been interested in getting a minor in business to go along with my engineering degree, but this program may also be a good option.  A professor also came in to tell us about the future of industrial engineers.  Many jobs are going to be replaced by machines in the future, but engineering has a good growth rate and has low risk to be replaced by machines.  The growth rate of industrial engineers is higher than other engineering disciplines, so if I decided to go into ISE rather than engineering, finding a job should not be difficult, as long as I continue to do well in college.