Sometimes, just because of scheduling, articles here cycle away from the home page. The disturbing part isn’t that the articles fall away, but so do your comments.

Since many visitors would not otherwise see them, here are just a few of the particularly expressive and heartening reader comments from the ‘So, You Want to Be an Engineer’ series…

“Engineering is fun! I was directed to be an engineer in high school. I have created many worthwhile and beneficial items using my engineering and artistic blessings. Though I have had a varied and interesting career in Tool Engineering, I wish I had pursued my education when I was younger and, though I didn’t think so at the time, had more time to spend learning and developing my talents. Who knows? I might have invented a teleportation device by now, had I taken education more seriously. It is really a great feeling when you develop something that you know will benefit the company and your fellow workers, not to mention mankind. I mentioned my artistic blessings earlier. This is one area that those wishing to recruit more engineering students should explore. Go after those artistic students and develop that creativity toward engineering and the sciences. They often have intuitive vision of things to come. That was my forte…. art. I used to draw all the time.” ——Bill Flowers

“I think it is also important to remember that some people HAVE to be engineers, because that’s who they are.” ——Richard McNutt

“After getting off my bus from high school one day as a Sophomore in high school, I saw my world in a different way. I noticed the street crown and the curbs, the sidewalks, the lamp posts, the brick houses, the automobiles and thought to myself that someone pretty darn smart figured all this out and here I am just observing it and living in it. It was all acomplished without my input…. Then I asked myself what can I contribute to this world. I think that’s when I decided to go into engineering but I didn’t even know what engineering was. I asked my dad and grandmother. They couldn’t tell me. So in my senior year at high school I took a drafting class and fell in love with everything it meant. Trade school better defined my focus for the tool engineering discipline. This is how things get made-I thought to myself. An idea becomes a reality because someone can define it with a drawing and dimensions. It was the start to a 41 year career with no layoffs, just early retirement from mold engineering and am still at it with my 3D solid modeling package doing work as a consultant for my former company and doing new product developement for another as well. I don’t plan on quitting until my eyes get so bad or my wrist gets disconnected. I love this stuff too much.” ——John Kochanski

“I’m proud of my career, although I’ve made some ‘misteaks’ and occasionally lost ground and my ego. (Dang! I though I was perfect!) But I would not change from being an engineer for anything. Engineers know how to BE PRODUCTIVE and how to SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS. What other profession (except maybe that of being a good ol’ hometown doctor) can make that claim?” ——R. Garrett

Some might believe that preaching to the choir is a waste of time. Comments such as these, however, might remind the choir of why they’re engineers in the first place.

Enjoy your weekend…

Reference: So, You Want to Be An Engineer…
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Final