Thread: What did you study? What do you specialize in? What do you do for a living?

Originally Posted by QuickLightning

Fair enough. It is interesting to see what some people are up to though, I'll give you that.

Salty - I thought you were doing EE?

Funny story (sad story really ) NAU's President of the college of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Science was awesome; he'd push through all the bs and red tape and get the college what we needed. He retired and the new one could care less; it's all about the art majors and underwater basketweavers (I mean no offense to anyone here who has an art degree, it's totally legit and great field if you can find work.) but CEFNS (college of engineering forestry and natural science) is the only college at NAU that consistantly brings in enrollment and money from the alumni. This year we have record high enrollment in every single department in the college. With AZ in the crap it is with budget cuts, they've since merged the EE and CS departments into one department. i.e. there is no computer engineering degree anymore. The closest thing they have is an EE degree with an emphasis in Computer Science. LOL It's the same thing almost as the CE degree was before it was cut, but just a bit different. It's an EE degree where you substitute most major electives for CE classes. So I guess I am technically still an EE just with a different focus.

Wow very impressed with my peers ( I say peers with hesitation as most of you far our stripe me)

But here goes. Went to a private catholic school for home schooled/gifted kids ( we had some true geniuses), I am not being humble when I say I am not sure how I got in, as my iq is only slightly higher then average and for the most part I am a C student.

Anyways the school specialized in liberal arts; so from about 5th grade forward I studied Latin, Greek, theology, philosophy, history ( both modern and ancient) and literature (both modern and ancient we had to read and understand Herodotus in the 6th grade ugh) math was present but I never went to that class (worse mistake of my life).

I started working at 14, my family was poor so I got a job doing construction after school ( I got out at noon every day). That lead me to meeting some shady charters that lead down...lets say a different path for a while. I wound up homeless on the streets for about 6 months but I managed to come out smelling like roses with no criminal record. I eventually ended up as a night bellman at a 4 star hotel & from their found my way into the security field at 21. I did security work for some time, got my level 4 and did P.P.O. work for a short while.

Eventually I got into advertizing sales which I failed miserably at I just wasn't willing to push after some one said no. From there I worked in a plasma center in the lab, eventually got fired and was jobless for an extended period of time. I started doing security work at six flag over Texas. I did that for two years until a friend got me an interview with Frazier's aircraft cleaning, which is where I am at currently. I detail corporate jets for companies like Exxon, Conocco etc. Were in talks to start doing the cowboys and mav's jets ( fingers crossed ).

I have some college as I always wanted to be a firefighter but it is an up hill battle. I didn't earnestly learn my multiplication tables to x12 until I was 30; And for some reason it is a more complicated profession then just putting the wet stuff on the red stuff .

I still take a course or two every semester. I'll prolly just wind up with a B.S. or if I feel like sleeping though enough courses a degree in sociology or philosophy. But the idea of listening to one more student teacher explain Plato or Aristotle to me is like trying to decide if I am going to commit a murder suicide.

I have studied various forms of martial arts through out my life which besides fighting, a lot of good life skills were learned.

long story short? I got a great education from 5th to 12th grade, did absolutely nothing with it, partied my ass off until reality finally caught up with me and kicked my teeth in and now I detail planes.

all in all I have always kind of been a leaf in the wind and I am just now settling down and finding direction in my life. I have always wanted to open a bar and still may if my current profession pans out the way I believe it will. I am paid handsomely for very little work and lots of time off. In a few years I should have the capital I need to start something up, if not I may just open one up on a beach somewhere when I retire.

so yeah that's me, I have no idea where this life is taking me , I should of died at least 6 times I can remember so I am holding on to this shit with a death grip.

ATEXANandHISGUN, awesome life from the sounds of it... even though it was hard/is hard.

I left out a lot of stuff from my short schooling summary... perhaps i will share something in more depth, I will have to think about it.

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

I take it you want to do automotive engineering? If so, try and get involved in the Baja race project if your school is involved with that. Try and get internships, too. A lot of times, you'll get stipends, and they'll set you up most of the time with a secured future job. Also, keep in mind that to work for a good company, you really need at least a 3.2 GPA. Not even kidding. I would also recommend getting a minor in computer science as it will make a lot of your work easier (writing a page of reusable code vs. 5 pages of tedious calculations).

If you're more interested in powerplants, chemistry is always useful.

If running a production plant is your thingg...well, good luck. I would get bored to death personally.

You may as well get a math minor with all of the math you'll have to and should take.

Doing Baja, I'd love to work with cars, that's the end goal. OSU has the best Baja and Formula SAE team in the country so that's why I came this way. I plan to get an internship for after Sophomore year. Until then it's just patience to see where everything goes...

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

You may as well get a math minor with all of the math you'll have to and should take.

If the person screening you for an interview is an HR representative they will be all for the Math Minor. If they are an engineer they will wonder why you wasted your time.

Originally Posted by voLcanasm

That house looks awesome. This is pretty much everything I have studied in one house. Geothermal, designing walls that are efficient but not a waste of material, and photovoltaics. That's a crazy design.

How did you like working on a project like that?

Depended on the day.....but looking back, it was pretty cool.
It was a dirty site for a while....as in mud pit. Geothermal and rainwater collection cisterns were dug-in, so the lot was pretty tore up for much of our rough-in.

There were some INCREDIBLE technologies involved with that place, but they were nearly trumped by the people that worked on it. The best of the best from many...many companies. The level of craftsmanship, and attention to detail from all involved is what made it.

The guy who built it, did so to make a documentary film of the construction, and a years-worth of life in it after the build. It was a showcase of all the available "green" technologies.....and that is what made it so difficult. One would never (in the real world) put that much coin into a remodel.....millions on a rambler. Getting all of the tech to work together was a design nightmare. Dual water-heaters(one geo, one gas as a make-up)...solar power generation system as well as the grid....forced-air heat as well as geothermal...EMF free sleeping zones.....the list goes on.