It’s been two years since I have burned out as an engineering student.
I always wanted to be an engineer. Not just me there were a lot of them like me, who thought we were born to be engineers. The ones who used to get goosebumps to the word ‘Raspberry Pie’ or ‘Arduino’. The first year of the engineering went without a glitch, most of the stuff that we were learning where either what we already knew or very basic.
Things changed when we got into the second year. Painfully I realized that ‘real’ engineering studies were very different, that Arduinos and Raspberrys were even unknown to the teachers. I had been a stubborn boy since, the beginning of time. I never learned anything that didn’t interest me. Also, I made sure that I learned everything that I loved. Starting from WordPress, PHP, HTML, Ruby, even DJ-ing and now Python.
The truth is that I have learned more than most of my colleagues. I remember things that I learned two years back. I don’t think anyone, not even the first rank holder in the entire university remember anything from a couple of years back. They learn for marks, they forget. I learn simply because it’s my passion. Things I learn are part of my experience. It’s just that anything I learn won’t gain me a degree in engineering.
We should learn through experiences, through practice. Anything learned otherwise is not learning. How can it be, when you are sure you will forget what you have ‘learned’ after the exams?
For all the reasons above, I usually don’t go to college. I sit back in my den, do what I usually do. I used up both my chances and condonation in the third year. And then, trouble came up last month, when I was short of attendance. I was facing a year out. Since Year-out is not a choice for me, I simply thought of dropping out. I almost made up my mind, when a higher force intervened and now I can sit in the 8th semester. Thanks to those higher forces. I have decided to go to class this semester. Simply because I love to do the project.
