Love Letter to Mechanical

This is it, the last post from me! Thank you so much to those who’ve kept up with us so far – we write these blogs for you and appreciate it when you visit xx

Now, I’ll be honest, I’m in that reflective mood. I’m sitting in my apartment, just had a shower after work, a long white on my coffee table (lesshgo), JESUS IS KING playing softly (thank you Kanye, very cool!), and I’ve started thinking back at the year that was.

A lot has happened this year, and sometimes it’s good to lift your head up and see the journey aye.

This year has been difficult. It has taken a lot of adjusting, brain-hurties, stress, and anxiety to get to a place where I can deal with it. It is no secret that engineering is hard. 

Honestly, part 2 blues hit me hard (this occurs about sem 1 week 5-6ish when you regret your specialisation and/or degree choice). There was a period where I was straight-up not enjoying any of my courses, and I was feeling more overwhelmed than I ever felt in part 1.

But then, something amazing happened.

I fell in love with you mechanical.

After an irritatingly short sleep, I got up to take a shower. As I opened the shower door to exit, I looked up at the hinge that holds the door to the cubicle. And (no kidding) I froze there and stared at this blunt metallic object for like five minutes.

I thought about all that time I’m spending with my group. All the detailed design, iterations, calculations, technical catalogues, transmission systems, and excruciatingly painful content about bearings, keys, and gears we’re knocking heads over.

I thought to myself “some poor sod had to sit there, and go through the whole design process for this little hinge! They had to come up with concepts, perform torque/shear/fixture calculations, select a material, finish it off with a proper anti-corrosion mechanism, and then come up with ways to manufacture it OVER and OVER again.

Just so I can step in and out of a shower in peace.”

Look, engineering is hard. But it’s essential. We make the world go round. We put scientific principles in practice, and APPLY all that theory into real-life. And give back to the people. People like you, me, your mother, your siblings, your best friend.

We provide.

Having that “bruh” moment in the shower made me realise the significance of everything I’m learning. It made me love what I do now because I know why I’m learning what I’m learning.

And judging by my internship right now, I HAVE to apply the knowledge I’ve learnt (plus learn way way way more than could be taught at uni!)

Now, about your big decision in early December

Take a moment. Breathe.

Spend some time reflecting over the year, and think about what worked and what didn’t. Be frank, be honest, but accept that the year is over – and think about what you can do next year to make it even better!

Think about what courses you loved – why did you like them? Look below the surface level of lecture quality and any sour-tasting tests and exams (ALL specialisations experience a significant drop in lecture quality, so find the content that actually interests you).

If you haven’t noticed from reading all of our blog posts, part 2 IS HARD. Every specialisation is difficult, so do not think about them in terms of difficulty. Everyone goes through a ring of fire in second year.

Think about the course content you disliked – was it coding? Was it that tub of filth called op-amps? Or was it (bless-your-soul) kinetics of rigid bodies?

Make a cursory list of specialisations that align with your interests and read what you can about them. The part 2 blogs are an excellent resource to see what we get up to in our respective specialisations!

That should hopefully help you decide what five specialisations appeal to you xx

For example, I loved dynamics, design, CAD, materials, maths, coding.

I didn’t enjoy electrical, and 140 was okay.

Since I like design way more than coding, I chose mechanical. You may have different likes/dislikes, and my specialisation could still appeal to you. The key really is to see what you loved and go from there!

Thank you so much for reading, and good luck for next year. Whatever you choose, feel free to come up to me and chat, would love to see who actually reads these aye <3

Ka kite anō au i a koutou