Saturday, January 12, 2013

I'm sorry I didn't stop by to tell you


http://www.michigandaily.com/news/engineering-lecturer-dies-53-cancer

my first engineering professor.

for a whole semester,

his lectures were filled with case studies,

class activities, and projects

that honestly,

didn't seem to add up at that time.

"just random general engineering stuff" was my interpretation of the class--

I mean, the class was called "introduction to engineering."

and the activities were ridiculously hard to do--

I don't think we were able to successfully finish any of them.

it was only until the last lecture that he explained it to us.

the theme of this class was

that failure happens.

we learned about it in the case studies,

and we felt it first-hand during our projects.

failures in our field can not only be costly,

but can endanger the lives of many.

he made us understand that from the start

and prepared us to face it when it comes.


despite having a class size in the hundreds,

he knew all our names.


when I couldn't go home for Thanksgiving

and had nowhere to eat because all the restaurants and cafeterias were closed,

he invited me and others in the same situation to his home

for his family's Thanksgiving dinner.


when I became a peer mentor for that same class,

he instilled in us his passion to teach.


I was meaning to stop by your office to thank you before I left school for graduation,

but for some reason I thought that I should wait until I accomplished something outside of school,

tell you how I applied the things we learned in real life.

then I did visit school once,

but then I was slightly embarrassed that I was not working in a true engineering career.

I thought I'd have time.


when you quoted "scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was,"

you assured me that engineering is the path I should take.

you made me realize that engineering is not just a skill to learn

but a discipline--a way of life.

thank you.