Young Engineers Should Be Grateful To Their Non-Engineering Mates
Young engineers, be thankful to all your friends.
For the past eight years, I have been dealing with different concepts involving engineering, math, physics and science. I couldn’t complain because I have always loved critical thinking which involves complicated numbers and variables. I also wouldn’t want to have it any other way because I’ve always wanted to be an engineer and I made sure I’d be one as soon as I entered college. For all the years I’ve endured sleepless nights studying for my exams, I have always been surrounded with my colleagues in engineering school. Even as an engineer working for a company that involves a lot of technical work, I am still surrounded with engineers from different fields. I’m glad I’ve gotten along well with them.
But you know what I’m also grateful for? My non-engineering friends.
Young Engineers, Be Grateful To Your Non-Engineering Mates (Source: UCLA, College of Engineering)
It pays to hang out with people who work in a different field – may they be artists, doctors, teachers or anything else. Their outlook in life is different from mine and they give me a breath of fresh air from all the technical conversations I have in my work. While we may not understand each other’s jargons, my non-engineering friends help me open myself to a world where I can talk about other things I usually don’t deal with on a daily basis. These involve art, music, medicine, business, finance, psychology and relationships.
My non-engineering friends who me new ideas on how to tackle different problems and they teach me that while engineering is important to the world, it’s not the only thing I should focus on as a human being. They open my eyes to more opportunities in incorporating my field of expertise to their world, which makes it more fun for me and for them.
They inspire me to understand and connect with other people. They help me see the world as diverse and not be stuck in a one-sided point of view in life. If there’s one thing I’m also grateful for my non-engineering friends, they’ve taught me that life shouldn’t be dealt with just by using my mind. I have to deal with my emotions as well -something most engineers have a hard time doing.
So here’s to all my non-engineering friends! You are as helpful to me as the people in my work. May you keep inspiring me to be a well-rounded engineer as I do the same thing for all of you. Thank you!
