The Purpose of an Education: An Engineering Perspective by Cathlene

The Purpose of an Education: An Engineering Perspective by Cathlene - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

The purpose of an education is more than just to force students to sit through lectures and learn enough to pass exams. An engineering education is very important for a practicing engineer today. Not only is a requirement to begin a career, but the study skills and lessons you learn in college help you when you are achieving certification, another important step in your career. An education should make students well-rounded, learn technical and study skills, help them gain contacts, and learn social skills such as how to take criticism and work with others. These things should all join together to help students in the future when pursuing further degrees or their career.

Education is about learning more than the minimum requirements. This may be taking a ballroom dancing course, or having a minor in economics to go with your art degree. In my case, I am in an accelerated advanced degree program. I am on track to have degrees in both architectural and civil engineer when I graduate, which will give me a more comprehensive outlook than those who may have not branched out as much. Many aspects of civil engineering are important to structural engineering, not only those you must learn about in required courses. For example, I will be taking more materials classes, especially those regarding concrete and steel, which will help me quite a bit later in my career. In addition, geotechnical information has a huge impact on the design of the structure of buildings and how their foundations must be built, one of the main responsibilities of a structural engineer. While these classes are not required to get my BS in Architectural Engineering, I am able to take them and get my MS in Civil Engineering as well. It will be more work, but it helps to show that I am trying to learn as much as possible while in school.

In addition, my college has the added distinction of having students perform long-term internships in order to gain real-world experience. Last year I worked with a consulting civil engineering company for six months. This job helped me to see how often the input of a civil engineer is required for things in our daily lives such as disposing of waste as well as how much coordination is required for much larger and impactful projects. This year I had my internship with an architecture and engineering firm, in the structural engineering department. This job has been giving me a better idea of what a structural engineer in particular does, as this is where my career path is headed. While these experiences would not be a part of a traditional education, they did allow me to learn a lot more about what the job actually entails as well as giving me more experience using the software required and learning more about codes, as well as give me contacts with co-workers and experience working in offices.

When making our first resume we see that class lists and GPAs make up a few lines on the page, while activities or prior job descriptions take up so much more. What classes you have taken might mean less to some employers than the ability to do well in a work environment. The brilliant genius without social skills is not the best co-worker. The ability to balance your time is also very important, and having activities shows this as well as possibly other leadership skills and the ability to take initiative. A GPA is often a good indicator of how well someone can learn and take advantage of tutoring and other help, but should also be combined with a well-rounded background. An education should help to take care of all of these things, but interaction from the student is required for them to gain the most from the experience.