Hey future engineers !!!
Maadhav here again, back with another dose of reality mixed with questionable life decisions! So you’ve survived my first post about what mechanical engineering actually looks like, and now you’re probably wondering: “But WHY did this slightly unhinged individual choose this path of beautiful torture?”
Buckle up, because this is the origin story nobody asked for, but everyone’s getting anyway!
The Great Engineering Identity Crisis of 2024 😵💫
Picture this: Me, sitting in my dorm room at 2 AM, surrounded by empty coffee cups and existential dread, staring at the specialisation selection form like it held the secrets to the universe.
Here’s the thing they don’t tell you: NOBODY has it figured out in Part I. Not the person who confidently declares they’re “definitely going civil,” not the one who’s been coding since they were 12, and definitely not me, who spent most of who spent most of CHEMMAT 121 wondering if polymers were just spaghetti with a chemistry degree.
But somehow, mechanical engineering chose me just as much as I chose it. Here’s how that chaotic journey unfolded…
Moment #1: The ENGGEN 115 Revelation
Remember that beautiful disaster we call ENGGEN 115? While half the class was having Vietnam flashbacks about projects, I was having the opposite reaction. There I was, elbow-deep in cardboard and hot glue, building a structure that had no business working but somehow did, and thinking: “This is actually incredible.”
It wasn’t just the building part (though let’s be honest, playing with power tools never gets old). It was the whole process:
- Sketching wild ideas that made zero sense
- Figuring out why they didn’t work
- Redesigning with even wilder ideas
- Watching something you created actually DO something in the real world
That moment when my design actually lifted the weight? Pure magic. Not the mathematical kind (we’ll leave that to the civil folks), but the “holy cow, I made this thing and it WORKS” kind.
Moment #2: The “Everything is Connected” Epiphany
Here’s what nobody tells you about mechanical engineering: it’s basically the Swiss Army knife of engineering disciplines.
During Part I, I kept waiting for that lightning bolt moment where I’d suddenly know my calling. Instead, I had this slower realisation that I didn’t WANT to pick just one thing. Why limit yourself to just structures when you could also do fluids? Why focus only on electronics when you could combine them with physical systems?
Mechanical engineering is for the indecisive perfectionists among us. It’s for people who see a cool robot and want to understand EVERYTHING about it, the mechanical design, the control systems, the manufacturing process, even how the materials were chosen.
Moment #3: The “Build vs Theory” Internal Battle
Let’s get real for a hot second. I LOVE theory. Give me a good stress-strain curve and I’m happy for hours. But if that’s ALL I was doing? I’d lose my mind faster than you can say “differential equations.”
What drew me to mechanical was this perfect balance:
- Morning lecture about thermodynamics principles ✓
- Afternoon lab session building actual heat engines ✓
- Evening spent designing improvements in CAD ✓
It’s like having your cake and eating it too, except the cake is knowledge and eating it means getting your hands dirty with actual projects.
The Real Talk: What Sealed the Deal 💯
Versatility is EVERYTHING. Mechanical engineers work in literally every industry. Seriously, name one field that doesn’t need us:
- Aerospace? We design the engines and structural systems
- Biomedical? Prosthetics, surgical robots, artificial hearts
- Automotive? Everything from engine design to crash safety
- Entertainment? Theme park rides, movie special effects machinery
- Green energy? Wind turbines, solar tracking systems
This isn’t me flexing (okay, maybe a little). This is me saying that choosing mechanical keeps ALL doors open. Having commitment issues? Perfect, welcome to the club!
The Brutally Honest Downsides (Because Balance)
Before you think I’m trying to recruit you into some engineering cult, let me hit you with the reality check:
It’s BROAD. Sometimes frustratingly so. While your civil friends are becoming concrete experts, you’re learning a little bit about everything.
The workload is no joke. We’re not just memorising formulas. We’re applying them in design projects, lab work, AND exams. Time management becomes less of a skill and more of a survival technique.
Impostor syndrome hits HARD. When you’re learning mechanical design, thermodynamics, AND control systems all at once, there are days when you’ll question everything. That’s normal. We’re all just winging it with slightly more confidence.
The “Aha” Moment That Changed Everything
You know what really convinced me? It was during one of the ENGGEN 115 presentations. This other person had built this incredibly elegant solution, simple, effective, beautiful. But when asked how they’d manufacture it at scale, they had no idea. When asked about material costs, blank stares.
That’s when it hit me: Mechanical engineering isn’t just about making things that work. It’s about making things that work in the REAL WORLD. It’s about considering manufacturability, cost, sustainability, maintenance, and a million other factors that textbooks barely mention.
We’re not just designers or analysts or builders, we’re translators between brilliant ideas and actual reality.
For Those Still Deciding: Some Questions to Ask Yourself
- Do you get excited by both the “why” AND the “how” of things?
- Can you handle being decent at many things rather than exceptional at one thing?
- Does the idea of working on completely different projects throughout your career appeal to you?
- Are you okay with never fully escaping group projects? (Seriously, collaboration is HUGE in mechanical)
- Do you want your work to have tangible, physical outcomes you can point to?
If you’re nodding along, mechanical might be your calling. If you’re still unsure, that’s also totally fine! Sometimes the best decisions are the ones we stumble into.
The Bottom Line 🎯
I chose mechanical engineering because it chose me back. It’s messy, challenging, incredibly broad, and absolutely perfect for my chaotic brain that wants to understand everything while building cool stuff. Will it be easy? Absolutely not. Will you question your life choices at 3 AM while fixing a CAD assembly? Definitely. Will you eventually build something amazing that makes it all worth it? 100%.
The best part? You don’t have to have it all figured out right now. You just have to be curious, persistent, and ready for the most rewarding academic rollercoaster of your life.
Still have questions? Hit me up! I promise my advice is only 73% based on sleep deprivation and caffeine addiction.
Stay curious, stay caffeinated, and remember: every expert was once a beginner who refused to give up!
Your overly enthusiastic, perpetually sleep-deprived, couldn’t-be-happier-with-his-choice engineer,
Maadhav
P.S. Still having doubts? That’s totally normal. Engineering isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being excited to find them. And if you’re reading this at 2 AM while procrastinating on assignments, you’re already fitting in perfectly! 😄