Communicating

This is my email to Alysia concerning the mid-semester feedback -

Hello Alysia,

I've been reading the comments that have been posted on the Mid-semester feedback post on your blog. I would first like to compliment you on wanting to better the class not only for those who will be taking the course next semester, but to us taking the class this semester. I think that if you apply some of the suggestions from your blog post and apply it to our lecture this semester, it would be a great learning opportunity for everyone in the class.

Thanks for your time,

Cory L.

Cory Lindeman
Undergraduate Student
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
lindema5@illinois.edu

Networking

So this week, one of my roommates starting talking about looking for a summer job. He says he wants to go work at a ski resort in Australia. Although it sounds like fun, and it definitely beats the job I had this summer (maintenance at a waste-water treatment plant, smelly) it doesn't really sound like my kind of thing. As I thought about ways I could avoid working the same place next summer, I thought of State Farm. Since I live in Bloomington (home of the corporate HQ), it would be a pretty accessible summer internship. And since I knew already that State Farm accepts a lot of interns for summer help, it would be a good choice. However, looking through their internship website, they don't have their engineering sector of work listed as needing help.

Not exactly what I was hoping for. But last year, I worked with three state farm employees in my Civil Engineering and Architecture on multiple projects. So I called up my teacher and asked for their emails. I'm now waiting for a reply on information about engineering internships that State Farm has to offer. Best case scenario, they'll let me know that they're looking for an intern for over the summer. If not, at least I'm looking for a job early. I think that because of our previous relationships, and their familiarity with me and my work, I have an edge over other people that could be looking for the same position I am. They could also provide a good corporate contact for my iEFX team. Hopefully something great comes out of this relationship.

 To me, the concept of missing basics seems like a super-sized lesson in kindergarten. First let us begin with a list of a few of the missing basics:

Asking questions

Labeling technology and design challenges

Decomposing design problems

Communicating solutions in written and oral form

Firstly, we all learned in kindergarten how to raise our hand nicely to ask a question. Here in engineering 198, I expect that we will learn not how to raise our hand, but learn how to ask the question. Back in kindergarten, the teachers showed us how to use the shiny new computers and play games like Oregon Trail. Here in class we’ll learn to use computers to our advantage to help our cause as engineers. In grade school, the only design problems we had to face were whether to use finger paint or crayons for our art project. Now that we’re all grown up, we know that finger paint or crayons was just one part of a bigger problem. And communication in written and oral form, we knew as show and tell. Now we are here to show our talents and tell our specific point of view.

Three of my skills that I want to develop this semester are my people skills, my study habits, and my outgoingness. I don’t really consider myself a social butterfly, but I would like to try to make new people now that I’ve come to college. I would like to introduce myself to at least ten new people by the end of this week. I would also like to give myself at least 2 hours dedicated to homework and reading. And lastly I would like to join at least 3 clubs this semester.