A Reflective Journey: Navigating Your Cumulative Experience at Iowa State University

Iowa State University has prepared me to enter the engineering workforce with competence in basic principles of engineering and standard workplace practices. ISU has developed my skills in designing systems and processes with the various project-based and lab-related classes taken at ISU. The projects and labs helped me to understand the intricacies of creating designs and processes to make a project go smoothly. These labs and projects, assisted by the topics covered in lectures, also helped me to determine the best ways to solve contemporary engineering problems. Several of these projects and labs took place in a team environment, which is excellent preparation for the workforce. These team projects also rely on good communication to function effectively. These team projects helped enhance my communication skills. My professors also encouraged me to seek more information on topics outside of class, providing resources to assist me. ISU also helped me develop my ability to analyze ethical issues and determine my professional and ethical responsibilities with different class assignments.

 

In my projects and homework, I used many external resources to advance my knowledge beyond what we learned in lectures. At the very basics, I used the internet to help me debug issues I would run into and YouTube videos to help me better understand concepts I was struggling with. I would often use the infamous stack overflow website when encountering issues with code that would help me work through the problems I was having. I also used the knowledge I had gained from my internships at Collins Aerospace to my benefit in some labs and homework as well. Things such as programming practices, good documentation and reviews, and programming language knowledge from my work. I also used other students in my field and courses to bounce ideas off of and work through problems we may have both faced. We would also compare lecture notes and help each other with concepts we struggled with.  Overall, ISU encouraged using external resources to enhance our knowledge of topics, and that skill has been and will continue to be helpful for me in my career.

 

ISU provides many opportunities for learning and growth outside of the classroom. The career fair is one of these activities that helps students find internships and jobs and improve communication and networking skills. I used the career fair to network with companies and enhance my interviewing and communication skills. I received my first technical interview from the career fair and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. However, in the end, this was an advantageous experience for me to go through and prepared me for the future of interviews and real-world problem-solving techniques. Although the interview went poorly, the experience was well worth it. I obtained an internship with Collins Aerospace with the help of the career fair, and that work experience has been helpful beyond what I expected. It also showed me how the skills I learned in classes could be translated into the real world. Iowa State University provides many options for learning and growth outside the classroom.

 

ISU prepared me for needing to update my knowledge of a topic as time goes on to solve a problem. I had to update and improve my understanding of programming languages throughout my classes as languages changed slightly, and we moved into more advanced topics. Through group projects, I also had to be vigilant in my awareness of leadership roles. I had to understand how to lead people through a project effectively. As the courses advanced, I had to improve my team, communication, and leadership skills. I had to distribute responsibilities, hear teammates' opinions, use everyone's input, and take criticism to build my skills. In other projects, I also had to improve my data analysis abilities. I had to learn to read lab manuals and project descriptions clearly and rigorously to ensure I did not miss any critical steps. I was used to skimming instructions and hopping from step to step, only considering parts I deemed worthwhile. I have learned that I need to read everything to avoid missing an important note that causes me hours and pain debugging. Iowa State fostered the ability to continue learning and updating my knowledge of topics to ensure I can complete the task.

 

Overall, I would not change a lot about my undergraduate work. I believe that I chose the correct field from the beginning and enjoyed many of my classes. The few that I did not enjoy were an excellent method of figuring out what I did not want to pursue in my future and were still a valuable experience. One thing I would change is my attendance in those classes I did not enjoy. Although my grades were still okay in those classes, I wish I had taken the time to learn the topic despite not enjoying it. Iowa State University led me through a robust educational program that helped me to develop my professional and technical skills in a workplace environment.