spazegun2213

Lots of PRI guys, and I think I'm one of the few Rose-Hulman Engineers here.

I led the unusual "smart life" when I was young. Freshmen year of highschool i HATED it, bad grades (just good enough to pass), hung out with all the wrong people etc, etc. But knowing i was not stupid i had an english teacher that would make me stay after class and lecture me (and only me, not any of the other people) about sleeping, would give me back my papers and tell me to rewrite them better (ie not 15 min before class) and told me to shape up. I started doing better and school and I finally started to realize he was right. I took all the AP/IB classes i could, and did everything i could to make sure I'd leave the area (small town trap sort of thing). I decided to aim high for college and applied for the best place I could, Rose-Hulman, and got in (after being differed once).

Went to Rose and realized that i was not so smart, i went from the top 10% of my high school class, to the bottom 50% at rose. It was shocking really, and I worked my *** off though 4 years of hell for my Computer Science degree. I learned a lot about engineering, life, being poor, and myself. I joined a fraternity, clubs, and did everything i could to enjoy the time i was not *** deep in books. I eventually went to Germany for 3 months, spain and sweden all paid for by school, and even graduated early to save some money.

I took a job back out here in DC and have been enjoying my work ever since. Some of my close friends don't have degree's and they comment about how "easy" I have it. I bought a house in early 07 (kudos to RL for the help on that), and try to race cars (although this year might be hard) whenever I can.

From everything I've seen, I tell my friends it better to go neck deep in dept for an education. That education will pay you back 100 fold (if not more) in the years to come, it will make things easier and you tend to learn a lot. That is not to take away from people that do not have degrees, but i think they are worth having. As everyone has said, you can do whatever you want, you just need the brains to think about it, an the ***** to go for it.

tortoise944

+1 on the engineer list! Ph.D. in Software Engineering. I get paid to study software defects and poor development decisions in the past and then work with teams to better themselves.

I think so many engineers like Porsches for the technical excellence and tuning that goes into them. I always sigh when I go on work travel and have to drive a Ford/Honda/GM/etc. Not because they are crappy cars or anything, but because when I drive them, I feel the slack in the wheel, the lag on the pedal, the sqeeks in the interior molding, etc and realize the lack of engineering precision that went into these cars.

srf506

Eharrison,
Maybe its because we are technical/or engineering centric that draws us to Porsches. The company is an engineering wonder house. We're probably drawn to that mystique and reputation.

volpenyc

BA in International Relations, from an Ivy school. Now I'm in finance, trading junk bonds.
Most important thing to tell these kids (I know how hackneyed it sounds):
1) life isn't a sprint race but more like the 24hrs of LeMans;
2) education will always be the best investment in yourself;
3) do what you like (either study or work) but if not, you don't have to love it, but value it as a stepping stone and
4) there are no mistakes in life, the wisest amongst us see these as learning experiences

and

5) attitude really is everything...

TedA

BSME from Old Dominion University in 1983. Passed the PE exam in 1987 and co-founded a mechanical/electrical consulting engineering firm in 1988 that designs PME systems for new construction and renovations, mostly K-12 educational facilities. The 20th anniversary of our company is tomorrow.

See the ball..be the ball ( Ty Webb, Caddieshack).

You can do anything you set your mind to if you really want it.

rickdm

I went to an inner city public high school in Cincinnati, and I wanted to design cars when I grew up. I thought engineers designed cars, so I managed to get a scholarship to study engineering at Ohio State. After two years I realized that engineers don't really design anything, they just engineer stuff, so I transfered into architecture. A BS and two Masters degrees later I started practicing. As a design partner I have gotten to design some fun buildings. In Chicago I did 311 S. Wacker (I think they call it the White Castle Building, tallest concrete building in the world), in Minneapolis I did Lincoln Center downtown, and in Dallas I have just finished the new Hunt Oil building on Woodall Rogers. Never thought I would make much money at this profession, it was something I loved, and still do. My kids used to come to the office and when they saw me sketching and coloring they would ask...'do you get paid to do this?'. Yes I do.

Still love cars. My daughter is at Stanford in Product Design, and they do summer internships in Germany working for the car companies. I told her I want her at Porsche so I can get that family discount card She is certainly a lot further along than I was at her age.