Where oh where do I start...
After taking 10 months off, it's probably a good idea to get everyone caught up to what I've been doing, and how things are going at SIUE. I've also been promising to posts some classes I think would be a good idea to take and I'll get right on that quickly.
One quick note: It seems that my Illinois College email is not working at the time (maybe due to some Alumni classification or something) so please everyone use my Gmail address (
JoeCalmese@gmail.com) for contacting me for now. As soon as I get the IC one figured out, I'll let you know.
Well, the last that you all knew, I was doing a CO-Op at Emerson Flow Controls. I decided to do this to get some experience in the "real" world and I thought it would hopefully hammer home some of the concepts I had been learning about for 3 1/2 years... and, well... it did! Taking that semester off was probably the best decision I've made in college thus far. I learned so VERY much during that time period that I know positively I would not know had I stayed in school. Also, it has given me the fortunate benefit of adding experience to my resume... and if any of you have ever Monster searched engineering jobs, you'll notice that experience is worth it's weight in gold.
As it turned out, however, the division of Emerson that I took the co-op with is actually quite small. In fact, they have only two Manufacturing Engineers that work in the St. Louis headquarters. Because of this, and that fact that they were launching some really large projects, I walked right into a
perfect situation! From day one, I was handed $30,000 capital projects to lead, and to this point, I've spent over $200,000 in capital purchases, with another $1.2 Million to go!!!
I got so involved in these projects, that they actually kept me on part time so I can still run them, as I finish up school at SIUE. So now, I'm working part time there (24 hrs/wk) while I finish up school full time. Because of the Co-op, my expected graduation date is December 08. However, if I play my cards right, I should have this job until then. I've been working directly with some top executives and everyone there has treated me like a full time employee... it's been great! I couldn't have asked for anything better.
Now with all of that said, it seems like a good time to think about how IC had prepared me for my "real world" position (at least as close as I can get for now). Right away, the very first thing that comes to mind is COMMUNICATION. Part of my co-op is that I receive constant feedback (positive and negative). This is what allows me to grow and learn as a student, and an employee. During my feedback sessions, it has been expressed to me that the difference between myself and other co-ops that I have replaced is my ability to communicate.
I pride myself on this, and so will you. It is what sets us apart... far and above. It doesn't matter how eloquent a solution is, or even that there
is a solution if you can not communicate you ideas. 80% of my job (no exaggeration) is spent communicating the ideas that I have for the problems that arise.
Some may wonder why this can't be learned at other schools, and I'll tell you: They do not place equal emphasis on classes outside of your major. At IC, every class is weighted the same. That does something to a student's psyche. We know and understand that we have to work just as hard in sociology as we do in physics (and often times harder, as it comes less easy). By contrast, at other schools, particularly engineering schools, students are instructed that their major classes are the only ones with importance. This is done so much so that you'll often find those engineering students refer only to their engineering GPA, as if the other classes do not matter.
Another sign of the devaluing of "other" classes is that most Engineering schools do not allow you to take upper level classes to fulfill any of your "Gen Ed" requirements. At IC, most of the catalogs only describe the classification of the course you need to take, not the level. At the Engineering school, SIUE included, it says that you can ONLY take an intro level English class. That somehow, because you're an engineering student, you're not allowed to learn how to write (or paint, or read, or act...) at an advanced level, only the basic.
This is crap. Fortunately for all of you, and for me, we did learn how to write, philosophize, and socialize on and advanced level where every class, regardless of major is treated equal. And that's how it should be. That is why we enter the real world a head up on everyone. Because, in the end:
"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."
— Lee Iacocca
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Stay tuned...
Joe
