Year In Review #2 

          This year, I got the opportunity to engage in an experience that I have never had a chance to before. As an engineering student at UC, we are lucky to be able to participate in the co-op program, and during the spring semester, I completed my first rotation. This experience had an amazingly profound impact on my professional goals and my life trajectory, and reflecting on this has only shown me even more how great of an experience it was.

 

          Coming into college, I was excited about starting engineering and it took a very small amount of time for me to know that I made the right choice of major. Despite this, I was still so unsure of where I wanted to end up in my career. I had no grasp on the sheer amount of different types of positions you could have in the aerospace engineering community. I thought maybe I could go down more of the design route, working for a massive company and coming up with ideas for new jet engines or aircrafts. Or I could end up in manufacturing, helping to make those designs other people made into a reality. I knew that I was heading down the right path, but I did not know exactly what that path might be. When I received my first co-op position at a manufacturing company, I was honestly a little disappointed because I was a little more interested in trying out the design route first. But luckily I went into it with an open mind, and found that I had so much to gain from working in manufacturing. I learned an insane amount about the aerospace industry and how the manufacturing process works in general. While I still may be unsure of exactly where I am going to end up, I now have a new perspective on it all. I learned that no matter where I end up, I am learning and growing so much as I work through these different experiences, and they will all prepare me for where I will end up.

 

          The most exciting part about this whole experience is that it does not end there. I still get to complete four more co-op rotations, and I am only going to continue to grow and learn during each one. After every one, I hope to get closer and closer to finding out where I want to end up in life. I plan on going into every experience I have with an open mind and ready to learn as much as possible about the aerospace industry. My goal for next year is to get as much as possible out of my co-op experiences, and continue to expand my skills and professionalism as I do so. In addition to this, I will continue to grow in my knowledge in the classroom to supplement my experiences.

 

          Overall, I had a great year and I am excited to see what next year has in store for me. I may still be a little unsure of exactly what my future will look like, but I feel like I now have a better idea of the different paths that I could take.