Two weeks to go.
This is really strange. A year ago I wasn’t even considering university. I wanted to be an engineer and I was going to go and get an apprenticeship. Here I am, moving to university halls in two weeks. Honestly, part of me knew that I wanted to go, I just didn’t think I was ready to change my plan a year ago. I have loved physics since I began studying it independently, but a lot of my peers and friends had told me that taking engineering was a way to combine what I loved with making lots of money.
Let me tell you now, physics, maths and engineering are not interchangeable in any way, shape or form. Physics and maths rely on each other, but they can exist independently. Mathematical models are used to explain and prove physics processes, but by no means could we not have physics without maths. It is simply easier to explain most of physics with maths as most of the time it delivers a conclusive result, like a nice finite number. That way, everyone can model a process, calculate it through, and come with a number that they can assign to the result of that process. Then, every time you do that process, you should expect to see ‘X’ result, which is assigned to the number. It does make sense to use maths, but physics also has a non-tangible side to it. The really interesting side to physics is the part that we explain with words. The part that we paint pictures of – but can never quite see or fully understand. We can’t put maths to it yet as we don’t fully understand its nature, and the maths we do have brings false predictions. So we can’t always rely on maths. But boy, the way I see the world now after understanding and interpreting basic physics is beautiful. Being able to look at a car and see all the different possible ways the world around it is affecting it. Being able to estimate how long things will take to cool down because of its temperature. Being able to look at a star and tell people some information, just because of its colour or what constellation it’s in.
Then, on the third hand as it were, we have engineering. Engineering is a completely separate thing that encompasses maths and physics, but requires a more technical understanding of materials and structure. It also requires a lot of knowledge on behaviour of those mentioned previously. Engineering requires perseverance, dedication and deep analysis. It requires a mind that can literally see problems before they happen and find the best way to solve them. It requires testing, planning, organising, analysing, and not being scared to fail and try again. Engineering is something the world could not do without now, it’s one of the fundamental things all around us. Everything has been engineered. In order to be engineered, it must be designed and planned. Everything that’s been manufactured has to be engineered by someone. Granted, there are different names for these, but ultimately, engineering can boil down to some core qualities:
– Question and Answer (or Problem and Solution)
– Planning and Preparation
– Safety and Testing
– Evaluation, Rectification and Solution.
Everything that follows a similar process has been engineered by someone. Maybe some poor guy that designs office chairs for a living. He’s an engineer. Designing the comfiest chair for your ass. Some would say he’s a designer, but designers are engineers. They’re part of the people that solve a problem. He wants to solve your problem, a lack of comfort when you sit. Some engineers solve bigger problems. Like some people might need a bridge. Or a house. But they all solve problem.
Back on the subject of university. I’ve actually started packing and organising already. I have one box full of stationary, of which I have labelled and sorted just in case. I have a few things I need to buy (like a new calculator. My old one finally bit the dust after being in use for the past five years.), but on the study front I’m pretty much done. It’s very strange, seeing a pile of clothes on the floor and all of my things in boxes. I’m the first person to leave this house in 18 years. We’ve never moved from here. This is my only home. Then before you know it, I’ll be graduating university and moving in with Charlie to begin that adventure. (who knows, I might redesign the blog by then. Make it more family life orientated. It would be nice to look back through the blog and see my evolution.)
I’ve been looking at the way I’m assessed this year, and its mainly coursework. I have a couple of exams, and one in class test, but I am sure they will prepare me well. And I know that the exams are designed to test pretty much exactly what they have taught us, as it said so on my unit specification sheets which I painfully spent a good few hours locating and downloading the other day. One of my units isn’t assessed at all as it is an introduction to laboratory and field physics, which can only mean one thing – I’m going to be doing lots of health and safety. Again. (For those that have never studied engineering or done a science at A-Level, a large amount of my year 12 engineering consisted of Health and Safety. It was the most tedious unit of work I have ever completed and I hated. Every. Second.) It’ll be fine. I’ll make sure I get the dates for my exams early, so I know exactly how much time I have to prepare.
September will be fun. I know it.
– notetakr
Jot It Down. 