In need of some life advice...

[sgtskid]

I was an okay student who graduated with a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. I completed undergrad with a 3.0 which required a great amount of effort on my part to bring it up. Yes, bring it up.

Most of college I worked for a car dealership and then a performance shop. When I moved to the performance shop I thought I was in heaven. I was working on exotics. Who else walks into work and has a Ferrari on their lift needing serviced? In addition to the service, the shop raced professionally in the Grand-Am Cup series (Now Tudor/IMSA) campaigning three Porsche 911's (two 996 and a 997) and sponsored a number of drivers in PBOC, BMWCCA, PCA, etc. I was traveling to races all over the country, driving the semi, servicing the cars, flying on private jets, and getting a few laps in (as a passenger) at some of the countries best tracks.
Living the dream right? Well, maybe.... After a couple of years at the shop I was ready to quite school and work full time for the performance shop. After all, my grades sucked anyway. I was talking with a good friend, the owner of the car dealership I had previously worked at, who gave me some sound advice.

What I discovered was this:
1. Although I was working around/on cars all day long, living the "dream life," I didn't have anything for myself. I spent all my time working on everyone else's stuff and when I got home the last thing I wanted to do was work on my own. When I did want to work on my projects, I either didn't have the time or the money.
2. I knew at some point I would "settle down" and I wanted to be able to support a family and the path I was on wouldn't allow for that.
3. I wanted to be the guy driving the race cars not working on or riding in them.


I chose to stay in school and haven't looked back since. Was it hard? Hell yes it was, school still sucked. Has it paid off? Many times over.....

My advice to you: Take an internship and see that work is nothing like school. Join the clubs and make like minded friends that you can study with. Do what makes you happy but take a hard look at your future and where you want to be and what you want to do. Choose a path that will get you there. School isn't for everyone and there are numerous other trades that are very respectable and high paying. But know that other paths may not be any easier...as with anything, there are and will be trade offs.

[ak-]

You didn't miss anything, no worries.
I'm currently taking pre-calc along with advanced placement "Chem 1", a learning community, a peer led study for chem, and an intro to engineering class.

My chem and pre-calc are destroying me. Pre-calc not as much, I currently have a borderline C, but I'm well below failing my chem class. Asking around about a curve is a good idea, however my math grade already has a bump to it and I know there's no final curve.

If it makes you feel better, Pre-Calc was harder in my opinion than Calc 1 especially if functions, their graphs, and Trig isn't something that is intuitive to you. Calc 2 is the killer, 3 not so much.
My advice is to practice practice practice practice practice. Doing the homework is not enough. Learn your trig + identities or you won't make it in the Calc series, seriously.

Be happy that Chem is a one and done class - I didn't enjoy it either. With that said, buckle down and learn to love math because that's all it is from here on out and again, it should mostly be intuitive to you by the time you're finishing lower div and dabbling with upper div. The classes get much more interesting as you move on up especially if you enjoy physics.

I also heavily agree with what other's have said about time-management and study habits. You have to seriously discipline yourself.

Some good responses in here. I'll offer my take, as I am what one would consider a "pro" education individual and have most certainly benefited from my education throughout my career.

1)
2)
3)
4)

Final thoughts:

I agree with everything Joe said and honestly stories like this add to the motivation of finishing up my degree. It's my sort of Happy Ending that I'm after.

[Bearmw]

Word

[stonea]

As someone who is finishing up their degree right now I have mixed feelings about school. My best advice is school isn't for everyone and school isn't necessary in life. I have a job offer right now and it has nothing to do what my degree is or where I went to school. It has to do with who I knew (I actually met them through cars). However the only reason my best friend has his job is because his current boss went to the same school as him and they bonded over it. Life is weird and you just have to do what you think is right.

[jeffnhiscars]

My son aced his AP engineering courses in HS and got early acceptance to a top 5 engineering school. Was on probation after 1 semester and out in 2...he just hated physics, calc etc etc. He got a job doing finance at a motorcycle dealership several years ago, now he runs the place...and has a Ducati in his living room lol

Everyone is different and as has been said...follow your inner voice and find what works for you. Ya never know how its going to turn out

[IronJoe]

Some good responses in here. I'll offer my take, as I am what one would consider a "pro" education individual and have most certainly benefited from my education throughout my career.

1) Not everyone needs a college degree. Having said that, not everyone has the opportunity to get one, either. And earning a college degree is something that no one can take from you. Think about the weight of that sentence for a moment. Even if you end up in a different field, with a different career 10-20 years from now, you will still have what you earned and it will benefit you in an employment situation. And it's much more difficult to quit now and go back later than it is to finish now.

2) The hardest part of college isn't the courses, it's teaching yourself time-management. My wife is a university professor and she sees it year after year with class after class - brilliant kids that don't put enough time into studying. I personally spent way too much time having fun my first year of college and had to claw my way back tooth and nail with extra classes, overloaded schedules, summer school and retake semesters. I was rejected from my program the first time and took more math & science classes and finally was admitted on reapplication the next year. If you aren't doing well, reach out to TAs, students, study groups, friends, etc. Seek out your professors and go to their office hours. Every week. Ask questions.

3) You are in the weed-out phase. Either make it or get weeded out. It's designed to be hard. Harder probably than your eventual coursework in your program. You won't start having fun and enjoying your classes til you make it out of the weed out.

4) Look at other majors before dropping out. Explore the other possibilities, maybe there's something else besides ME that you would really enjoy.


Final thoughts:
I remember being incredibly jealous of my friends that entered the workforce out of high school - they had jobs and were making money. Buying cool stuff, while I was broke and a full time student. Thankfully I stuck with it and those friends are still earning about what they were 10 years ago and I've eclipsed them multiple times over. I didn't have money to go to college, I got by on scholarships. I ended up with a BS in CS and a year later, went back and got my Master's in CS as well. My wife is in her final year of her PhD and is now a college professor. Both of us have valued education over other things and have sacrificed a lot in order to make it happen - but we are now reaping the benefits of that sacrifice - living comfortably and driving E30 M3s

[flyboyx]

Lol.

(At restomans comment)

[NEOe30]

In need of some life advice...

"Suck it up and get it done" heard that before. My dad was told by my mother when he wanted to quit college that she would not marry him without a degree. I was ultimately convinced by my wife to finish. Vagina.. the great motivator.

Thanks for the story about your nephew. I do have to say though that if I stick with it I'll take it head on, I'm actually currently only taking "gen ed" classes except for into to engineering which I'm doing fine it. It's small stuff like building a flash light circuit and that bores me because of how easy it is. Let me also say that regardless of the decision I make, that I DO at least plan on going to the community college to get a degree in business because I believe that it can be used anywhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Restoman]

"Suck it up and get it done" heard that before. My dad was told by my mother when he wanted to quit college that she would not marry him without a degree. I was ultimately convinced by my wife to finish. Vagina.. the great motivator.

[Restoman]

Talk with your parents. Keeping them in the loop and asking for their advice will do you wonders. There is a good chance your parents had the same experience and would love to help you through it. You are trying your hardest, but it seem like you need direction. Direction to keep plowing through, change direction to a different major, or just helping you find a way to make the engineering degree path easier to achieve.
My nephew gave up on engineering at Arkansas this year. He tried very very hard, had no time to do anything but study and he kept slipping. The constant beat up he received from going in that direction just put a bad taste in his mouth for continuing. He's doing fine now as undecided. He's regrouping and just taking all of the core classes while he audits classes that interest him.
I tried going to college for computer science, but changed to marketing. I ended up going to the local university and getting a marketing degree, which I think was a bad move.......BUT overall, having a college degree gets me in the door to any interview I want. I've been working professionally for 13 years now and I'm glad I plowed through college and finished.
Hope this helped.

[NEOe30]

when you say the class work is kicking your ass, what do you think is the reason?

you sound like you have at least an average level of intelligence.

do you think it could be a lack of comprehending what you read in your books?

could it be a difficulty of focusing your attention?

perhaps you haven't learned good study habits?

how about a lack of interest in the material causing all of the above?

getting grades like you mention is extremely discouraging. my line of thinking here is if your grades were in the mid 80's would we be having this conversation? one of the main reasons students are unsuccessful is because of an inability to foster good study habits/focus.

assuming this is the problem, do you think you would want to stick with this line of schooling if you could improve this?


i graduated #2 in my high school class. i found it really easy and almost never studied for anything and almost never had homework. i just paid attention in class, and did my assignments as the teacher was talking or finished them up while i was waiting for class to start.

college was a completely different story. my first semester of work rewarded me with a 2.7 grade point average of just pre requisite classes. i found out pretty quickly that my high school study habits weren't going to cut it by a long shot.

I'm not sure why to be honest...
I pay attention in class and study multiple times a week for my classes, and especially before exams. I even have a class that I get credit for studying with a small group of kids in my class.

I do have to admit that if my grades were solid Bs i probably would not be here, however I do still believe I want a job in the automotive field regardless.

I've talked to a guy who owns and runs a local performance shop that I hang out at sometimes, and he went to UNOH. He makes 6 figures, has plenty of race cars, has a growing business and he's only 30. He did say however that not a day goes by where he doesn't wish he had his degree, but he seems happy. I talked with him about these things as well and he says suck it up and get it done.

[NEOe30]

I might have missed this, but I'm curious, what classes are you taking as a first semester ME? I went to community college for two years before I transferred in to a state school, and I didn't see any engineering related classes till my third year of college. Maybe you need to take more general classes and broaden your ideas of what you want in life before jumping in? Chem, history, bio, coms, econ etc Have you considered any other degrees? Like you I chose ME because I love cars, but I was also part of a competitive Robotics team throughout high school so I was able to get a taste of what engineering was like before I went off to school.

Grades are not everything. I think a big misconception about college is that you need a 3.0+ to graduate and get a good job. I had semesters with GPA above 3.5+ where I made the Deans list, and semesters I got a 1.4 or lower. Did you ask around in your class, or the professor, to see what the average test grades were? Sometimes a 64% is actually B because of the way classes are curved. Don't let a few bad grades discourage you, instead use them as motivators to improve next time.

I for one am a huge advocate of going to college, no matter the degree. In my opinion; If you get involved on campus the life skills, experiences, friends, connections/networks you can build during your 3-5 years at college outweigh your degree or any trade job you'll go through. I'm a sub par ME, and to be honest probably shouldn't even be in this degree considering I probably wont go on to be an engineer, but ever since I got involved with sports clubs, engineering clubs, greek life etc it's opened up a lot of doors. Surround yourself with people who make you happy, get involved on campus, and explore more classes.

You didn't miss anything, no worries.
I'm currently taking pre-calc along with advanced placement "Chem 1", a learning community, a peer led study for chem, and an intro to engineering class.

My chem and pre-calc are destroying me. Pre-calc not as much, I currently have a borderline C, but I'm well below failing my chem class. Asking around about a curve is a good idea, however my math grade already has a bump to it and I know there's no final curve.

[mbonanni]

In need of some life advice...

I might have missed this, but I'm curious, what classes are you taking as a first semester ME? I went to community college for two years before I transferred in to a state school, and I didn't see any engineering related classes till my third year of college. Maybe you need to take more general classes and broaden your ideas of what you want in life before jumping in? Chem, history, bio, coms, econ etc Have you considered any other degrees? Like you I chose ME because I love cars, but I was also part of a competitive Robotics team throughout high school so I was able to get a taste of what engineering was like before I went off to school.

Grades are not everything. I think a big misconception about college is that you need a 3.0+ to graduate and get a good job. I had semesters with GPA above 3.5+ where I made the Deans list, and semesters I got a 1.4 or lower. Did you ask around in your class, or the professor, to see what the average test grades were? Sometimes a 64% is actually B because of the way classes are curved. Don't let a few bad grades discourage you, instead use them as motivators to improve next time.

I for one am a huge advocate of going to college, no matter the degree. In my opinion; If you get involved on campus the life skills, experiences, friends, connections/networks you can build during your 3-5 years at college outweigh your degree or any trade job you'll go through. I'm a sub par ME, and to be honest probably shouldn't even be in this degree considering I probably wont go on to be an engineer, but ever since I got involved with sports clubs, engineering clubs, greek life etc it's opened up a lot of doors. Surround yourself with people who make you happy, get involved on campus, and explore more classes.

[flyboyx]

when you say the class work is kicking your ass, what do you think is the reason?

you sound like you have at least an average level of intelligence.

do you think it could be a lack of comprehending what you read in your books?

could it be a difficulty of focusing your attention?

perhaps you haven't learned good study habits?

how about a lack of interest in the material causing all of the above?

getting grades like you mention is extremely discouraging. my line of thinking here is if your grades were in the mid 80's would we be having this conversation? one of the main reasons students are unsuccessful is because of an inability to foster good study habits/focus.

assuming this is the problem, do you think you would want to stick with this line of schooling if you could improve this?


i graduated #2 in my high school class. i found it really easy and almost never studied for anything and almost never had homework. i just paid attention in class, and did my assignments as the teacher was talking or finished them up while i was waiting for class to start.

college was a completely different story. my first semester of work rewarded me with a 2.7 grade point average of just pre requisite classes. i found out pretty quickly that my high school study habits weren't going to cut it by a long shot.

[ELVA164]

Without getting too verbose...

I got a full ride to RIT for ME, which I decided on because I love making and fixing things, and solving problems. Cars were one aspect of that, but I also designed part of my high school campus and had just as much fun with that.

Once I got to RIT I found the workload pretty shocking but the thing that made me nervous was the result of conversations with my professors: many of them said my chances of getting a hands-on job were around 20%, and those odds just weren't good enough for five years of hard work. At that point, I left there and got a teaching degree, thinking I needed a degree to have a stable job.

Now I'm taking over the family business and really enjoying it. It's hugely physical and all the onus is on me if anything is to get done, but it scratches all those itches I had when I applied to RIT. If I could do it over, I would have taken trade classes and skipped the degree.

That said, I'd only recommend that route if you're all in for it. You can do really well in a trade but you have to dedicate yourself to really mastering it.

As others have said, do some real soul searching and research multiple possible options. Full disclosure: I spend full days working on the race cars, so the E30 is not as much of a desire to tinker with now. Partly because it's mostly done, but I don't want to burn myself out with cars either. I'd be happy to chat if it would help.