When I Grow Up

Table of Contents

Classes Needed ...................................................................................................... 4 Skill Set.................................................................................................................... 4 Why I want to........................................................................................................... 5 Personality............................................................................................................... 6 Goals ....................................................................................................................... 7

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Outline I. Introduction II. Classes To Study A. Chemistry B. Algebra C. Physics III. Conclusion

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Thibaud Streignart Mr. Steigner Genre Literature 28 May 2012

When in high school, you have to start thinking about your future and what you want to become. You have to learn about yourself and learn about all the things you like and dont like to do. The worst thing one can do is to choose a job they do not like doing. This needs a lot of considering. If you major in one job and do not enjoy doing it, you will lead an unhappy life. During high school you can enter certain clubs and activities that relate to the job you want to do. If these electives or courses do not appeal to you, you know you dont want to do this job. I have been researching to see what options seem appealing to me. I found a lot of different possibilities but decided to go with engineering, more specifically, mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering deals with motion and energy. These kinds of engineers are always trying to find ways to make our daily lives better and easier. Mechanical engineers can work in many different branches including transportation, power generation, and manufacturing of tools. Leonardo da Vinci is one prime example of a mechanical engineer. His studies spread among a large variety of subjects ranging from flight to everyday convenience. Despite the fact he lived in the late 1400s, many of his ideas are still being used today.

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Classes Needed: In order to become a mechanical engineer, one needs to excel in a few fields or topics. These topics include math, science, chemistry, and physics. Math is the study of numbers, it includes algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, etc. Science courses needed for mechanical engineering include chemistry and physics. Chemistry is the science of matter which includes atoms and the interaction of other atoms. Chemistry deals mainly with chemical bonds. Physics focuses on motion, energy, and force. Physics analyzes nature and the universe to understand how it behaves. Some subjects in mathematics and science can be studied during high school, others need to be focused on during college or university. Skill Set: If you want to become a mechanical engineer, a certain skill set is required. This includes for someone to be creative, efficient, detail-oriented, and mechanically inclined. Creativity is having the ability to use and express your imagination. This is certainly needed because to be a mechanical engineer, you must create original and fascinating ideas. Efficiency is the ability for someone to do the most they can do in the least amount of time possible. To be detail-oriented, you have the ability to notice small details or mistakes easier than other people. To be mechanically inclined means that you work and understand machines and ideas very well. Mechanical engineers help develop and experiment new technology and gadgets. They need to excel in certain subjects and acquire certain traits. Many of these skills are directly associated with the job, but others are vaguely used. Engineering has

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been around for a very long time and has interested many people. Mechanical engineering seems enjoyable to do.

Why I want to: Ever since I was a little boy, Ive had a love for creating and experimenting. My favorite pastime used to be to play with Legos. I was so fascinated by how all those little blocks could fit so perfectly into a recognizable structure. Sometimes it got boring to follow the instructions, so I would whip out a few Lego blocks and build anything that my heart desired. Whenever I would go to my grandparents house, I would build something with my grandfather. This would range from building a go-cart from an old carriage to building a kite. This is where my passion for building and creating really began. Engineering is very appealing and seems enjoyable to me. I love to experiment and create new things. This is very helpful in this job because, that is practically what it is all about. I like to try out new things. The thought of being able to create things that lead to futuristic cities and countries is an amazing thought. It gives you the ability to put all those Lego pieces together to make something recognizable and useful. If your invention is successful enough, it will become something people will use every day forever. Engineering gives you the ability to make the future happen. According to the Marina Margaret Heiss personality test, my personality also matches up with the requirements for this job. My personality is described as clever meaning that I can juggle many different ideas and once and be able to create many more. It is described as ingenious at problem solving, this would be very beneficial in

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solving problems I made in original ideas in a design. ENTPs are also very optimistic which would be helpful in overcoming problems or discouragements. This is useful when you just cant solve a problem, that you keep trying and trying till this is solved and never give up. Personality: Another reason that I would be perfect for this job is that I have a love for futuristic devices and gadgets. There are many sci-fi movies that depict what the future will look like. By creating new machines and ingenious ideas, the world will rapidly evolve to these futuristic cities. I have always had a love for watching these movies and finding out exactly what they are and how they work. For example in the popular movie The Fifth Element the director depicted futuristic cities and flying cars. Through innovative thinking, we will hopefully reach this someday. To be a mechanical engineer is my dream and also fits very well with my personality and love for certain devices and machines. I have a love for futuristic devices and gadgets. It is a very amazing idea to be able to invent new technology to move towards these greater, futuristic cities depicted in the movies. Mechanical engineering includes everything I want to be and be able to do. More and more things are being mechanized. Changing everyday regular devices to electronics. This will require more and more mechanical engineers and I would like to be one of them. Small goals are needed to eventually become a mechanical engineer. Small goals such as getting better in certain fields of study or foster your skills. Some other goals are also needed such as getting good grades in high school, getting into a good

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college, and eventually graduating college. Such goals are needed in order to become the best you can be. If all these little goals are achieved, you will be able to achieve the bigger goal much easier than before. This is because you have already overcome little things that would need to be tackled anyways. Setting these goals just makes your life easier overall. Goals: The first small goal I need to achieve is to get good grades in high school and graduate with these good grades. This isnt as simple as it seems, in order to get good grades and eventually graduate with them, a lot of determination is needed. Willpower is key to achieving this goal. If one does not have enough willpower, they will achieve nothing. Without willpower, they wont study for tests properly or even do their own homework. In order to graduate high school with good grades, it would be good to strive for excellence. This means that you want to be the best at what you do and do it as good as you can. The next goal is to get into a college that has a very good engineering program. In order to reach this goal, I must reach my first goal of graduation high school with good grades. In order to get into a good college club participation and grade average can help. The college application is what is the absolute of getting into that college. To be able to get into a college with a good engineering program, good grades are needing in the areas that are going to be focused on. Doing good in college is also key in eventually becoming a mechanical engineer.

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The last goal needed to achieve after graduating high school and college is you need to get a job. This, of course, will aid you in completing your last steps of becoming a mechanical engineer. A good application and a college degree are needed to get into an excellent place of work. Once you get into this job, you will start developing your own inventions or aiding other people in their ideas. You can create your own inventions in aiding the world to move into an amazing future. Another option at a mechanical engineering job is to be a sort of apprentice to someone else. To be a mechanical engineer is what I really want and seems to fit with me very well. I have a love for inventing new gadgets and machines that lead to an amazing and technological future. To become an engineer you need to also achieve a few smaller goals to ultimately achieve this one big goal. Small goals can be goals like graduating high school and college with good grades, and eventually getting a good job. My personality checks out very well with this line of work and fits all the requirements. Engineering seems to be the future for me.

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References: "Education Requirements for Engineers ." Career Toolkits | Career Profiles. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.careertoolkits.com/engineering/engineering- education.html>. "Fun Facts Mechanical Engineering."Mechanical Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://thundercats2010.wordpress.com/fun-facts/>. "What Skills Are Needed for Mechanical Engineer Employment?."wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-skills-are-needed-for-mechanical-engineer- employment.htm>. "UAB - Facts about Mechanical Engineering." UAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://www.uab.edu/engineering/departments-research/me/about-me>.
"Chemistry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry>. philosophy, the 19th century physics was realized as a discipline distinct from, the other sciences. Physics, and as with the rest of science. "Physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics>.