To many who want to finish through engineering school smoothly, having a difficult professor is one of the many hindrances towards that engineering diploma. It could have been easier if all the engineering professors were kind and easy to deal with. In an alternate universe, that can happen. But not in this universe. There’s that one or two difficult professors that will put us in terrible situations, making us want to give up engineering.
My take with those kind of professors is that they are merely a test of what is there to be in the real world. What he gives – the headache-inducing projects, the mind-boggling exams and everything in between – are but a preparation of something bigger in the field of engineering. I thought, “This should be part of my training in engineering college.” And I got that right.
A few semesters after I dealt with that difficult professor, I realized that he was indeed part of the training. He was part of the trials not to tear me down, but to ultimately test me to build up my faith in this career path. The fact that I managed to move past it is already a validation that I can get through anything even bigger faced upon me next time when I am an engineer.
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It doesn’t look good if you currently have such a professor. At the surface, it looks ugly, with no hope for a change until the semester ends. But let me tell you this: survive it.
Tough times are there so you can have a good time later and really appreciate it. You will look back at those moments one day and you can say to yourself that you were able to make it work despite the hardship – you got out of it much stronger and more resilient.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” And that applies too well for future engineers, as the profession requires so much ‘challenge and controversy’ at work than in school. Trust me, it will get better.
