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I'll chime in with the others who have added comments here, tacking on my experience in your situation. I just finished my M.E. degree this last year, and went to work for a major aerospace corporation. This corporation also happened to be where I did one of my summer internships. This being the case, I can most certainly relate to the "zombie" type atmosphere to which you refer. Aerospace in general, and particularly in the large companies, is a land of cubicles and org charts. If you're familiar with Dilbert or the movie Office Space, you are intimately familiar with the surface aspects of my everyday job. I am 100% with you in terms of my distaste, rather I should say disgust, with many of these aspects. That said, aerospace can also be relatively interesting compared to some other work-a-day engineering jobs. I work on the space shuttle everyday, which believe me is not nearly as sexy as it sounds (very very much reminds me of working on my old Saab), but still is pretty cool in the grand scheme of things. The work I do directly impacts the safety of people's lives, so I can feel like I'm making a difference.
I think all jobs, to some extent, are somewhat like this. You take the good with the bad. Unfortunately, the "real world", in the short time I've occupied it, has taught me that the idea of a job that you love to bounce up out of bed at 6am Monday to go to, which constantly inspires you (naturally the one which we all expect when we get out of college) is more myth than reality. Not to say you shouldn't still strive for it, but just don't expect it immediately. It takes time, effort, and persistence to get there.
I think that personally I'm much more of an academic than most people around me at work. I did a lot of independent research work as an undergrad, and consider myself a person who constantly wants to continue learning. This part of my personality gives me some degree of frustration in the cookie cutter land of engineers. But I find ways to deal with it, among them hanging out on Saabnet and obsessing over techical details of our cars. I think a lot of the challenge is to not allow yourself to be contented or stagnant in something. If your job isn't what you want it to be, work to improve it, as opposed to seeing another job as the only way out.
My experience as an intern left a lot to be desired. Often they want to shove you in a corner and have you do pretty menial work, and give you little respect for your intelligence or capability to solve problems. I personally got tossed a bunch of programming work, since I could do it, but I hated every minute of it. I found that my life improved significantly when I took the initiative to go talk to my boss about it, indicating that while I was willing to do the programming work they asked me to, I thought I could be useful to them in applying my engineering knowledge in more significant ways. Telling them such made them appreciate my intelligence and confidence therein, and my successive assignments were considerably more fulfilling. I watched a lot of other interns sit and "take it", and leave with a much less fulfilling experience.
Now that I've hired on to the same company as a full-time engineer, I've found that my job is significantly different. Aside from the fact that I'm working a different area (now do structural analysis, previously did thermal), I also am expected to shoulder more responsibility, interact more with the customer, and generally be more involved in things. Again, I think these jobs are in large part what you make them. It's very easy to become a cubicle-troll, and just go through the motions every day. But generally if you work to avoid that, I think you'll be happier, and it will open more doors down the road.
One thing to remember is that the first job you get out of school is absolutely not neccessarily one you'll stay with forever. I have no intention of remaining in zombie-land for any extended period of time. I see this as an opportunity to learn, gain experience, and diversify the range of options I'll have in a few years. Aerospace is cool (I used to want to be a fighter pilot), I but sports biomechanics is my real passion, aside from bodysurfing. Clearly I also like cars. I too have thought about going into teaching at some point. I've thought about becoming a professional academic. I often think about starting my own company. I've thought about going back to Australia (where I spent a semester abroad), and chasing kangaroos around the bush. What I think I really want to to is be "Bill Nye the Science Guy". But there are many things to balance, and the most important thing, as one person pointed out, is to figure out what makes you happy in life, and prioritize accordingly. For me my day to day job is a small part of the overall equation.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is not to write off engineering too quickly. Your bad experiences in undergrad land and the land of co-ops may or may not coincide with your experiences once you get out and start working full time. Engineers work on a wide variety of problems that impact humanity in many different ways. Engineers work in many professions which do not have "engineer" titles, but still apply the techniques and thought processes learned in engineering school. Many engineers (and people in general) fail to find more contenting jobs because they lose (or never had) the passion, motivation, and determination to strive toward it. The unhappy zombies you saw around you don't have to be your future.
When I was in college, I was also an assistant track & field coach, which has some similarities to teaching. As several have pointed out, education possesses its own set of challenges; deviations from the ideal. I suffered much frustration in dealing with tremendously talented individuals who failed to achieve for a variety of reasons outside of my control. I also found frustration with people who did everything right, worked tremendously hard, but failed to reach their goals because of things they couldn't control (lack of talent, injury, etc.) I worked with a guy who taught high school math, and often shared his own struggles with me. Point being, it's not always as rosy as you hoped it would be, and that can take a toll on your own contentment as well. This is part of life in any profession.
Remember, in the same way that you're deriving happiness from doing teaching work on the side while in engineering school, you can also do so if you're working as a full-time engineer. I still coach track, and do volunteer work in a number of places. Many of my co-workers volunteer at local schools. You'll be surprised how much extra time you'll have to devote to these things once you're free of homework and keg parties.
Ok, well I've rambled on long enough...but your post interested me, because I went through a lot of similar thought processes a year ago, and I'm still going through them now. I think teaching is a tremendously noble profession, and certainly one that needs qualified and motivated people. If it wasn't for a select few teachers I came across along the way, I certainly wouldn't be where I'm at today. If that's what you want to do, I'm confident you'll succeed in it and make a difference. But just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, and not to avoid a fears that may or may not be real.
Feel free to email if I could be of any help.
Cheers,
'Roo
posted by 128.42.178...
, Wed, 16 Oct 2002 00:13:58
, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 11:57:35, Mon, 14 Oct 2002 21:56:42
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