Being book-smart and being smart in the outside world often referred to as being street-smart are two completely different things; likewise aside from being on different sides of the spectrum, very rarely would they compliment or overlap. This writing for engineering course has been more than I bargained for. It showed me the path of learning how to be prepared for the outside world, all the while being book-smart. It is commonly said that expectations are the roots to disappointment, however throughout the semester in this course, I’ve learned that it is better to have an idea of what to expect as we young aspiring engineers and computer scientists venture out into the outside world. The phrase “outside world” was one used by the professor of this course in order to distingue where we are as students, and where we will be one day; therefore preparation is key!
When it comes to communication, it is imperative that we as future employees and employers be able to convey points clearly and effectively. One of the major milestones met in this course was completing the interview report. This report was done through finding an established professional in the field you are studying – in my case Mechanical Engineering, through the use of the technology on websites such as YP.com. This task really build on the social and communication skills as it calls for specific and strurally driven questions to formulate a report. One thing that I’ve learned to admire is how connected every given task are to each other. From this interview report, working with someone else is key to building the communication skills needed for the outside world. Similarly was the group proposal in which we were in groups of threes and fours, and through extensive research and collaboration, built upon another important skill. Synthesizing of sources from different places under information literacy from the CCNY online library.
For almost every task at hand requires us to revise and review before handing in the final piece. This where drafting comes into play as I had to write more than one draft of my lab report to finalize details such as citations to prove my sources were trusted and also that I fulfill the needs of my audience- otherwise known as audience and purpose. It was more than just a learning experience throughout this course, but more of a period of growth that I know will follow me way into my future career. Last but not least, my resume is one of the most important part of this course because as I head into the unknown trying to reach out to future employers, it is obvious that many times you will be judged by a piece of paper (resume) than your enthusiasm; therefore, it was imperative that we learn how to correctly and effectively write a resume because it can make the difference between being hired or not.
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