“I am a Mechanical Engineering student…”

It’s true that this is probably the first thing I would tell an employer or professor, and it’s true that “Mechanical Engineering student” defines a significant portion of my life. But it is far from the whole of who I am, or even representative of the rest of my experiences. It’s hard to remember that when I’m neck-deep in homework and group projects and trying to study for my next exam. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to even remember why I’m here.

I like to consider myself a learner. I like learning new skills — I’ve taken up knitting and figure skating and I even tried to play violin for a bit — and I enjoy contemplating history and literature, and comparing the physics of Ant-Man to those of the reality we live in. I like building things, and I find space both terrifying and immensely intriguing.

It can be difficult to remember all these things that drove me to decide to be a “Mechanical Engineering student” when I’m busy being frustrated with trying to recall some bit of Calculus I learned two years ago.

I’m still learning how to balance the what and the why. It’s taken me longer than I care to admit. I’m 30 and I still sometimes need a firm reminder to not overload myself. It’s how I ended up in Fluids this spring (for which this blog is a requirement!), having only just missed the passing mark last semester. It’s a bummer, to say the least. Still, I didn’t made it this far to give up now, and even failure teaches us things (I’m sure plenty of engineering students can relate). Even the spaces in between, the time it takes to figure things out, is an opportunity to grow.

So maybe I’m behind the curve in my education, compared to others. And I’m certainly not a model student. But the important thing is that I am here now, and that I am making the effort to keep learning, keep moving forward. When I say, “I am a Mechanical Engineering student,” I mean, “I want to find my full potential.” The finding isn’t the same for everyone, but for now, our paths are tangent.

Blogging as a part of that path is a way to enforce the lessons I learn and the discoveries I make along the way, and a course requirement is as good an excuse as any to start doing so. So, here goes!