TASK 3:
In the beginning portions of the book, Studying Engineering: A Road Map to a
Rewarding Career by Raymond B. Landis, Steffen Peuker, and Jennifer Mott, the authors talk
about what it takes to become a successful engineering student. Students need to have the
willingness to change their mindsets and how they approach things in order to succeed in
engineering. Otherwise, a student might view themselves as incapable of being able to succeed
and may drop classes or change majors. That’s why the book talks about how students can
succeed no matter what their level of talent is or how prepared they are. However, this can lead
to students who have been getting straight A’s and extraordinary results in high school to being
overconfident, resulting in them failing assignments. College engineering has much higher
expectations compared to high school. It was also explained that simply wanting to be successful
is not sufficient; rather, a student should view success as the achievement of their goals. Students
need to be able to clearly identify their goals and fully commit to working towards them in order
to succeed in engineering.
While reading the text, lots of things stood out to me. One particular topic that stood out
to me was how different high school is from college. As it said in the text, some students believe
that their overachieving results in high school will reflect in college, but that is not always the
case. I believe that I can easily fall victim to this because I believed that since college is usually
the next step in one’s life after high school, the difference in academics would be similar to
advancing up a grade level. It also showed me that excelling in particular subjects, such as math
and science for engineering, does not automatically mean that a person will succeed in
engineering as well. Another thing that also stood out to me was setting achievable goals and
using them as a benchmark for success. This would give me something to work for so that I can
have the motivation to succeed in engineering. Going forward, I want to be more flexible in the
way I tackle engineering. I plan on going to college with an open mindset that will help me fix
learning habits that may not be working. I also plan on setting up achievable goals for each class
so that I can not only succeed in this class but in engineering as well.
TASK 4:
I believe that in order for someone to become an excellent engineering student, they will
need to have the willingness to learn and the dedication to fulfill the requirements of what the
professor and fellow students expect from them. I believe that I have the potential to be an
excellent student, but I am not at that caliber at the moment because I usually tend to
procrastinate and take things lightly. What I could do is try to complete my work throughout the
semester rather than push everything until the very last minute. Some hurdles that may be in my
way during this class may be my own fear that I don’t belong or am behind in class. I am the
type of person who usually compares myself to others and finds deficiencies that I have which
others may not have. These hurdles will become increasingly difficult the more I focus on others
rather than myself. If I start focusing on myself rather than comparing myself to others, I believe
that I can overcome this hurdle and become a successful college student.
I believe that being present in class is also an important part of not only becoming a
successful student but also a successful engineer. Without the willingness to being present in
class, a professor might overlook them and view them as someone who is not inclined to
participate or add anything to the class. I would like to think that I am part of the subgroup that is
present in class, but I fear that may not be the case. I tend to stay hidden and avoid being called
on to speak in class, mostly because I don’t like speaking out loud as much as others might. I am
the type of person who wants to keep to himself rather than speak out loud in front of others.
This class might teach me that it is much better to speak out rather than to keep to myself, be
engaged with the class, and, most importantly, be present.