With the start of the new year, I reflected on the challenges and lessons from the past year in academics, work, and personal life. Despite an overwhelming semester, I managed to achieve good grades and learned the importance of pacing myself, valuing my time, and prioritizing meaningful projects. I also realized the vital support of friends and family and embraced the unique way I approach problems. For the upcoming year, I plan to lessen my workload, focus on projects that excite me, and have more fun with my learning.

New Year, New Me

With the start of the new year, I decided to evaluate how things went with the previous one in my studies, work, and personal life. During this reflective time, I quickly realized that there are a lot of things that I have learned over the past 365 days that I hope I never forget.

What’s the big deal?

The past year, especially the most recent semester, has been rather difficult. I was warned that going into my junior year would be challenging. I was warned by professors, grad students, and my own peers alike. Despite the warnings, I guess I didn’t fully realize how daunting a task it would truly be until I was right in the thick of it.

At the start of the Fall semester, I decided that I would shoot for a special academic award that my university offers. To receive this award, a student must take at least 15 credits and receive an A grade for all these courses. As a result, I registered for 15 credit hours and 6 classes. This was a huge mistake.

A Good Start

There is one class I took Fall semester, which will go unnamed here, that I was warned about specifically. It is infamously known by students as a weed out course. While I had heard the rumors and tried to prepare as much as I could during the summer months, there’s only so much I could really do. Especially with my other responsibilities at the time. Working full time, participating in the L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy (an excellent experience I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about the space industry), and going to school part time received most of my energy during the summer months.

When the time finally came to start the semester, I started out strong. I scheduled out my days in my calendar, which were packed full. I was participating in clubs on campus (the student satellite team, the robotics club, IEEE, cyber security club, and Linux/FOSS club), creating proposals to develop PCB designs for a local startup, acting as a lab TA for an AC circuits class, starting a podcast for engineering students, and teaching a robotics class for kids at the local library.

Burnout

At first, I could keep up with all the demands for my attention, but over time the courses got more demanding. The assignments got longer and longer and I needed more time to study as the semester wore on. I was trying to juggle being a full time student and managing two part time jobs, several extracurricular activities, side projects, general day-to-day upkeep, and occasionally having time to do fun things as well.

The first thing to go when things got tight were the fun things I had planned. Next to go were the extracurricular activities. One by one, I would stop attending meetings and spending time with the friends I had made there. Eventually, every aspect of my life would slowly disintegrate as my frenetic pace devolved into a state of bare survival. There were weeks where I wasn’t sure I would even get through the semester, let alone do well in my classes. I felt doomed, being slowly dragged down to immeasurable depths without any chance of breaking for air. But, somehow, I made it through.

Lessons Learned

While it may seem that my courses got the better of me, I actually ended the semester with really good grades. I was able to not only progress to the next set of courses for my degree, but also earn a spot on the dean’s list as well. I feel like the difficulties of the past few months have helped me learn about a lot of things. How to survive in school. How to get out of my comfort zone. But, most importantly, who I am as a person.

It’s ok to take your time

"Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there some day."

— Unknown

The first lesson I want to discuss was that it’s okay if I take things a little slower. The wide, old, world will still be there if I take an extra semester in my studies. Sure, there are certainly opportunity costs associated with delaying graduation, but I feel like I will gain much more than I will lose in this case. I feel like having time to wrestle with the difficult concepts in class to understand them on a deeper level and having time to work on the projects that bring meaning to my studies are more important than getting done quickly. Even when taking into account the financial benefits of entering the workforce earlier, I think my sanity is much more valuable to me than a few extra dollars.

I wouldn’t be here without the support of my family and friends

“A friend is someone who helps you up when you're down, and if they can't, they lay down beside you and listen.”

― A. A. Milne

One thing I’ve realized is that I couldn’t have gotten as far as I have without my friends and family there to help me. I know I must have driven my family absolutely crazy with all the groaning and complaining I did over the past little bit. Nevertheless, they stood by me. They listened to me complain about that professor, assignment, etc. when that was what I needed. They provided me guidance and motivation when it seemed nothing would turn out alright. I am so grateful for them and all that they do for me.

My time is valuable

This might seem a bit contradictory given my first lesson, but hear me out. As I mentioned earlier, I had the opportunity to pitch a proposal to design a PCB for a local startup company. I was excited to work on the project as I am enthusiastic about solving the problem their product was trying to solve. I had heard about their need for a PCB designer from a friend on the robotics club. I reached out to them and let them know I was interested. I was in contact on and off with them for a couple of months until the time that they actually wanted to do an interview.

Up to this point, I had freely given them plenty of advice, which I was willing to give as I figured I was just a student. What could my advice actually be worth, anyway? This advice related to designing with accessibility in mind, the various certifications needed to sell the product, and what work would need to be done to complete the project. These were valuable insights that no one on the startup team had either considered or had knowledge in up to that point.

During the interview, the team seemed rather aloof and standoffish. They had mentioned that they were deciding between going with a professional PCB team or a significantly less expensive college student to design their product. They encouraged me to present a project proposal soon detailing the costs and timeline required to finish the project. We scheduled a time and I prepared.

When the time arrived to present my proposal, no one showed up to the Zoom meeting. I waited a good 20 minutes. I thought back on all those months of spotty conversation and the seeming lack of coordination. I realized then that my time was better served working on projects that took me and my work seriously.

Projects make learning meaningful

I further expanded the previous lesson into more than just a bad PCB design gig. I realized that my time is better suited working on things that make me excited and that mean something to me. I would much rather be working on robots that autonomously pick up trash or drone swarms that can aid in search and rescue operations than mindlessly solving convolution problems by hand.

I know theory is foundational to all aspects of engineering but when it is devoid of any and all creativity, all fun is immediately sucked out of learning. At least, for me.

I think that is why I enjoyed working on my final projects so much this semester. I got the chance to apply what I was learning in a meaningful and creative way. I really enjoyed going beyond the classroom and testing my skills in a real life environment. The projects grounded the topics in reality, namely embedded systems and path planning for robotics, in a way that made sense for me.

It’s ok to be me

There is a stereotype about engineers. You know, the quiet guy who is really good at math. While I’ll admit I have a lot of the traits associated with your typical engineer, an intuitively mathematical view of the world isn’t necessarily one of them.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy math. I have several books on math that I have read just for fun. I love the logic puzzles that come with creating proofs and the elegant ways math can describe the world around us. But, when learning about a concept for the first time, it doesn’t work for me to just see an equation on a board.

You see, something like this:

$$\frac{4s+28}{s^2+6s+5}$$

means nothing to me the first time I see it. If this describes a circuit, I need to know what those numbers mean and why they mean what they mean. Is it related to creating a magnetic field around an inductor? Is it caused by charging and discharging an electric field in a capacitor? Or, is it caused by gremlins in the wires that, for reasons only they know, just like these specific sets of numbers?

I want to understand the physical phenomenon behind the numbers on the board. In this respect, I think I might be a little different than my average classmate. I’m not happy getting by with wrote memorization of formulas and vocabulary. I want to know why.

“Look at the good work you’ve been doing! You are doing good things. So when you walk into a room, walk in like you’re 7 foot tall.”

— David S.

For the longest time, such differences, merely perceived or otherwise, have kept me in a rather rigid mold of a person around my peers. It’s safe. It’s accepted. It’s boring. I don’t have to keep all my thoughts and opinions to myself. I’m realizing that it’s okay if I come at problems from a different angle. In fact, that’s exactly what engineers are paid to do! Come up with interesting and unique solutions to real problems that make life better.

I have come to accept that the several quirks and idiosyncrasies that I experience are what keep things interesting. The things that make me, me. And that’s ok.

What About Next Year?

Next year, I hope to take what I’ve learned and hit the ground running. So far, I’ve lessened my course load and removed some of the responsibilities that weighed me down last semester. One of my goals for this next year is to have fun with my learning. I don’t want to set any ideas into stone just yet, but I am planning to have more time for my projects, both in and out of school.

I hope you take the time to reflect on some of the things you’ve learned over the past year and that you have a great 2025.

Wishing you the best,

Gavin