Quote: (01-08-2013 01:09 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:
Quote: (01-07-2013 11:35 AM)Phil Wrote:
And it sounds like you're not really passionate at all about engineering. That sets off a warning bell for me.
I'm always concerned to hear this piece of conventional wisdom. I think it leads some teenagers on wrong paths. How can you be passionate about anything when you're 16-18 years old and don't have any life experience to know what to be passionate about?
It doesn't matter what you choose to do, as long as your persistently keep at it, eventually you will become good at what you do. And when you are good at what you do, you will become passionate about it.
Example: As long as a bad plumber keeps plumbing like there's no tomorrow, eventually you'll become a good and passionate plumber.
The initial emotional investment in passion is not nearly as important as the amount of persistence you are willing to put into your chosen field.
Persistence should be a given. But persistence is hard work. There has to be something to power a man through the long slog of the mandatory hard work he'll need to put in to be a success. A natural interest in the subject is a good start. Assuming a baseline IQ, I'm sure the OP could be a good engineer OR a good finance/marketing professional.
I just didn't see much interest in engineering from his first post.