[Chris Hibner]

Students considering getting engineering degrees need to understand that getting that degree is going to be hard. Most likely the hardest thing they've ever done in their lives. It's not for the weak.

I try to do my best to persuade people to go to college (esp. engineering school), but I always tell them how hard it is. I want to prepare them for those days when they think that they can't do it. Everyone always thinks that they're the only one having a hard time - I usually like to make them aware that everyone is thinking that.

Once people decide to go, I usually say something like: "Be prepared: it will be the hardest thing you've ever done. You will serioulsly (and I mean seriously) contemplate quitting at least twice per semester. You will learn how to eat while reading while getting dressed and talking on the phone - you need to do this so you can create another 30 minutes of sleep time so you can get 6.5 hours of sleep per night. You will also always seem like you're behind and that you never really learn something until about two weeks after it has been covered in class. You will feel like you can't go on. As bad as all of that is, everyone goes through it. If you want it, you can do it. Just remember me saying how it's going to be so when it gets that bad, you know that everyone experiences that and people can and do pull through it."

I had that talk with a friend of mine that will graduate (at age 31) with his bachelor's degree in archetecture this May. He has since told me that he went through all of the tough times, conteplated quitting many times, and then thought back to the above speech and said it really helped him get through it.

Wow that was long. I guess the moral of the story is: IT IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY HARD. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Engineering school makes you pretty strong.