"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
- A Chinese Proverb
Siva Kumar Palaniappan is the author ( Become an engineer not just an engineering Graduate ), Motivational trainer, Key Note Speaker, Career Coach, and Happiness Consultant. He holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with MBA in Human Resources. He also holds a Diploma in counselling skills with advanced certification in Neuro Linguistic programming. He has over a decade of experience including in Engineering, Project Management, Program Management, Human Resources, Campus Recruitment, and University Relations, He has worked for many companies like Pricol, Wipro, NXP Semiconductor, Qualcomm, and Robert Bosch, Shiva is the Founding President of Coimbatore Toastmasters Club that toasters Public Speaking, Communication and Leadership Skills. He is an ardent blogger who writes passionately on Happiness, Motivation, and Leadership.
He shares a conversation between himself and his brother-in-law's cousin. Let's listen to that conversation.
On a casual visit to my sister's place on a pleasant Saturday evening, I met my brother-in-law's cousin. Amid talking about varied stuff, I discovered that he was a 2nd-semester student of Computer Science at one of the leading engineering institutions in town. He introduced himself as Vignesh and my opinion from this first meeting was that he was much of a talker.
The surprise came a week later when my sister called up. She was nervy and panicked while picking up her words on call, "Hey, do remember Vignesh? He attempted suicide and is admitted to the hospital. Could you join me on the way there?"
I agreed to join her in the next 30 minutes even though I had blocked the day for spending some quality time with my wife and son. Once at the hospital, I got to know that Vignesh was in the ICU but the doctor assured us saying, "There is nothing to worry about- he is alright now."
Reluctant though I was, I thought of meeting Vignesh. Surprisingly, once I entered the room, he was hysterical. Almost choking he muttered, "I am not interested in computer science, but my parents forced me into it. For the first time, I failed my exams. I had nothing else to do." There lay Vignesh with a question that threatened to rip his life, in mind "How can I relish engineering education?"
I want to add something Committing suicide is horrible for me, I want to say this to every parent if your child is not interested in doing engineering, medicine, law, and CA then don't force him to do this. You have to believe in your children. Let them be what they want to be, let them do what they want to do. Yes, you can give him advance in there life. Don't pressure them that this is what you are made of.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai:- My father spent the equivalent of a year's salary on my plane ticket to the U.S So I could attend Stanford it was my first time on a plane but when I eventually landed in California things weren't as I had imagined America was expensive a phone call back home was more than two dollars a minute and a backpack cost the same as my dad's monthly salary in India the only that got me from there to here other than luck was a deep passion for technology and open mind so take the time to find the thing that excites you more than anything else in the world, not the thing your parents want you to do or thing that all your friends are doing be open be impatient be hopeful. You have a chance to change everything. I'm optimistic you will.
However, this question was not exclusive to Vignesh and his dilemma. I was pensive yet glad when he asked so. There are Hordes of students who ask, "How do I survive engineering college?"
Of note is that there is a massive difference between surviving and relishing. As said earlier, becoming an engineer is an intensive process. If you want to become an engineer in the true spirit, this could demand much more than mere enrollment into a relevant course.
Stepping into a college for an engineering degree breaks the monotony and routine-like system you had in high school through 12 years since childhood. It is challenging to adjust and accommodate to the new environment, friends, and teachers, but learning the nuances of relishing engineering college is far easier than taking an extreme step that could end life.
Only very few students transition smoothly into technical education. A large chunk of students has great difficulty in managing studies with life, in engineering colleges. Based on my interactions with students and a few inputs from successful engineering graduates and faculty members, here are some useful tips for engineering graduates that could aid them in embracing graduation.
10 Ways to Relish Engineering Education
01. Learn to care for your-SELF
Have you noticed that teachers in your school used to take much more care than your engineering college professors? This is because, you, no longer are a kid. Remember your parents and teachers had been around in your early years to closely watch you, guide you, and support you. As enter college, you'll need to understand not getting the same levels of monitoring. If you miss classes, it is your responsibility to catch up with you well in your subjects, better pull alongside yourself.
Take help from your friends learn from reference books and take cues from your seniors. Take good care of your physical and mental self. It is even more important as most of you are living away from your homes in a college hostel, dormitory, or shared room with your friends.
02. Say No to Rote Learning, Learn by Doing
Shockingly, reports from a leading engineering college reveal that many students, who have topped school leaving exams, fail in subjects such as computer and mathematics during the 1st-semester assessment. I've seen students fumble during interview sessions wherein they were quizzed on some basic concepts from their course.
Scholarly studies have been consistently establishing the fact that students fared poorly in tests, which delve into their understanding or application of know-how to real situations. Most of the students were only able to answer questions based on recall or standard blind memorization. Not only are all creative thinking abilities put to an end but this also does away with conceptual understanding as a whole.
Rote learning could aid students to memorize formulas, theorems, mathematical tables, and the like. However, it should be used in conjunction with other forms of learning including application and practical techniques.
The simplest learning techniques that students of engineering and other disciplines can take up are:
- Liner and non-linear note-taking
- Mind mapping
- Elaborative interrogation
- self-explanation
- Summarization
- Highlighting ( or underlining )
- Keyword mnemonic
- The imagery used for text leaning
- Rereading
- Practice testing
- Practice testing
- Distributed and interleaved practice
03. Understand your subject and syllabus
If you belong to the category that scurries for the syllabus only a night before the semester exams or tries to dig up the name of the subject just a day before the exam, your dream of becoming an engineer could crash into a catastrophe.
Always try to connect your subjects with the larger perspective of your engineering branch. Understand thoroughly why you have to learn this subject, how and where it is applied, and grasp the concepts that score in importance above general theory. If you have picked Computer Networks as a subject, do not merely treat it as an independent aspect. Instead, connect it with all other relevant areas of computer science engineering. Looks at how it is used and applied in real-life scenarios. Connect with other relevant subjects you've learned in previous semesters. Associative learning is one of the most powerful and effective learning techniques.
At the beginning of the semester, set learning objectives and goals for each subject. While learning the basic concepts of the subject, approach the same with an application-based perspective. Don't remain within the boundary of your syllabus-come out of it and learn from the latest research publications, magazines, reference books, data sheets, product documents, and online courses.
04. Ask questions
Unfortunately asking questions is eyed with raised brows in our society. Parents often draw the line saying, "Don't ask questions, and just do what we tell you. "Even teachers in school often hold the same attitude. Though, it is only reasonable that you might not be able to ask questions during the first few days of engineering, yet, if you remain without asking questions ever during the course you will never be able to enjoy learning. Asking a simple or stupid question might appear silly in your mind. However, you must always remember that learning to ask questions the right way, could instil a lifelong capacity and passion for learning in yourself. Asking questions enhance the active learning process and consistently increases participation in peer learning processes.
Don't feel shy or embarrassed to ask any query. If you don't understand something, try and get it clarified. The major questions you need to ask on varied areas are-
- "How does this works?"
- "Where did this derivation come from?"
- "Can you give an example of where these concepts are used?"
- "Can you explain the practical application of this principle?"
An engineer's mind should always be inquisitive. if you are always wondering how things work and find yourself continually trying to solve problems, you may have strong engineering potential.
05. Learn beyond your textbooks
Don't just follow a textbook. You will be hooked on to only one way of thinking in that case. Pick up books that would elucidate the subject with practical illustrations, real-life examples, detailed explanations, and much more. Read up on the companies working in that area while trying to find out what the inventions and latest innovations related to that subject are.
Let's again consider the example of Computer Networks. Instead of only clasping to books, read about the world's leading networking companies and look out for their product portfolio. Read about their latest innovations and inventions in networking. Study the data sheets of various types of switches, routers, bridges, modems, and other networking devices. Learn about new networking protocols, topologies, interconnection models, and layers. Subscribe to leading journals, magazines, websites, and forums rated for computer networks. All of the above could help you understand the physical and mathematical concepts underlying networking.
06. It's okay to fail but don't give up
Fortunately or unfortunately, our parents generally are so overprotective of us. They would never like us to fail in any area of our life be it academics, sports, or even cultural activities. We are unconsciously or knowingly under parental pressure and social pressure to succeed in whatever we do. Probably because of this influence, many students tend to give up and walk away thinking, "What if I fail?"
Students tend to give up quickly as soon as they think they will not be able to cope with the demands of an engineering degree. They usually never think about adding extra effort or pushing themselves that extra mile to try out different things.
It will surely take a few days, weeks, or even months to figure out what's and how's on an engineering campus. Until then, patiently try but never give up your efforts and perseverance. Great monuments are not built overnight just as Rome was not built in a day.
You should learn to tell, "It's ok to fail, but I'll not give up".
07. Teamwork is the key
Unlike B-schools, the engineering education system does not have group assignments, case studies, and team learning pedagogy. Most engineers fail today because they are rarely honed in group learning methodologies. The probability of the students giving up on a course is high if they try to learn all alone. Learning in groups and solving technical problems that way would enable better learning than the way you learn alone.
It is important to take up real-time engineering cases and try to come up with solutions as a group. From two groups in your class- a study group ( group A ) and a discussion group ( group B ). Learn the same chapter or discuss the same in detail. This will not only facilitate better learning but will also help you to learn team dynamics, collective thinking, and collaboration attitude.
08. Be part of real-time internships
A common allegation against companies in all Industries- Institute conventions is "companies don't provide internship opportunities to our students, rather, they simply criticize gaps in employability skills." colleges and faculty could use this as an excuse for not encouraging internships. Just think, why should companies bother about giving an internship to you when there are millions of engineering graduates in this country? Organizations are busy building their business problems, grappling with global economic issues, reducing profit margins and so much more. It is practically not possible for organizations and experts to reach out to every engineering college and graduate to help bridge the gap. As an engineering graduate, it's you who needs to intern, to gain hands-on practical experience and learning. Internship opportunities are aplenty once you open up your eyes to them.
Have you ever thought of working with mason on a construction site as a civil Engineering graduate? Or in a small workshop as a Mechanical Engineering graduate? Or further still, in electronic appliances repair centres such as Electronics Engineering graduate?
The main problem is that you are waiting for an internship opportunity in Multi Nation Company with a handsome stipend, an air-conditioned office, and a cosy lifestyle. If you want to understand the ground reality, learn beyond your textbooks or classroom. The best option is to fold up your sleeves, her your hands dirty, and take up an internship with a provider of ground-zero jobs allied to your domain of engineering.
09. Learn smart, think practical
One would find numerous students with University ranks and excellent academic scores. However, they could still lack a clear understanding of engineering concepts.
Once I asked a Civil engineering graduate, "How many bricks, cement, and sand could be required to build a room of size 10 feet by 10 feet?" As you must have guessed, I found no convincing answer coming. When I asked the same question to a concrete mason, pat came the reply, "Sir, we need 700 bricks and 14 bags of cement, and one and a half trucks of sand. This is---if we have one door of 4 feet by 8 feet, 2 windows of 4 feet by 4 feet with concrete roofing".
There is no point in accumulating knowledge, without knowing how to apply and use it. There will be no difference between a memory drive that merely stores data and your brain then. Build a good level of common sense or practical intelligence based on strong theoretical knowledge.
An engineering manager of a leading technology company said that a good engineering candidate" should have an inquisitive mind that is analytical and has a strong comprehension of engineering science and mathematics. Besides these, she or he must know how to apply this concept to solve real-time problems".
10. Know your purpose
If you don't know the real purpose of pursuing an engineering degree, you will not relish it. Processing a comprehensive purpose and career goal would help you to focus on the actions you need to take. Write a statement of purpose ( SOP ). It will provide clarity on many aspects as to why you are pursuing engineering after all!
Write whatever you believe is the purpose while not replicating what your parents think or your friend opines. Revisit this statement often, and modify it all right it will require but have a purpose. As said by Rabindranath Tagore, "the highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence".
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
All the tips are given by Sivakumar Palaniappan