↩ Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse · archived here
The most common profession which strikes in the minds of every Indian student after Class 12 — probably after Class 10 nowadays — is to become an ENGINEER (just like me). For the last 4 years, people ask me Why Engineering? and I had no answer. Until recently while traveling and having absolutely nothing to do, I found the answer. Surprisingly, doing engineering was one of my best decisions.
I am sharing the reasons behind my statement, hoping that it will benefit someone confused deciding what to do after Class 12 Science. This article is about the pros over the cons of an Engineering Degree and is based on my personal experiences as a B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (2019) from K J Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai. I am currently doing a Masters in Integrated Product Design at TU Delft, Netherlands.
By this time you must have heard why no engineering? from every engineer around you, but they seldom talk about the reason behind that. I can assure you that the pros are way more than the cons, provided you do your engineering the way it's actually meant to be. Here are some factors that benefited me the most.
The exposure engineers get during the 4 years — in technical festivals and exhibitions, sports festivals, and cultural festivals, various exhibitions and competitions — is remarkable. By this, I mean not only attending these events but also organising your college festivals and participating in these competitions as a college or branch representative. This builds up tremendous confidence and adds a sense of acumen to your repertoire.
Besides the basic studies, engineering introduces you to so many different fields and opportunities in the form of student councils, technical teams like Orion Racing (KJSCE), robotics teams, cultural teams like dance groups, musical groups, art teams, drama teams and many more. Working in these technical teams teaches engineering the way it should be learned — by actually doing it — and the cultural teams and councils nurture the co-curricular skills and give the artist inside you a chance to shine.
Explore every possible field you get a chance to and don't stop until you find the one you enjoy the most working on. This is what I did in my engineering to find out that product design is the thing I want to do and not mechanical engineering. Before concluding this, I personally tried art, event management, logistics and production, graphic design, stage design, packaging design, video editing, and even interior design. Engineering is the only field that allows you to explore all possible careers in the form of student councils, start-ups, online courses, part-time jobs, and internships.
Along with all types of engineers and coders, I have seen from a UI/UX designer, cinematographer, photographer, production team, logistics management, event planner, project manager, to a dancer, comedian, actor, director, scriptwriter, singer, poet, artist, decorator, painter, social activist — all rising from a single engineering college. The contacts and connections you build during engineering are so limitless that in future you just name any profession and we have a friend pursuing it. Also, the amount of engineers doing masters abroad is so expansive that we have at least one friend to crash in almost any part of the world.
Every engineer knows how and where to find a solution to almost any problem — not only related to study but also life. Engineering teaches you to handle pressure like a piece of cake. It builds the ability to understand the problem and the related concept within a few minutes. Engineers cover up a whole semester's worth of content in a single night. No matter how badly we cry about our problems, and how much we procrastinate, we are confident enough to face it and figure out the solution on our own when needed.
This is all the fun when you look at engineering with a new vision to explore new possibilities and not the old rusted ideology of getting a degree and eventually landing on a job. I admit that spending 4 years doing engineering — in some field you are not sure if you want to pursue further — is a big risk. But trust me, if you are not sure of the future you want to pursue or are still finding the thing you are passionate about, then:
Cheers to all engineers — and be proud of being one.