Rite of Passage
For juniors in the engineering program, the class intensity is high. Understandably, the professors want us to learn everything we can before entering into an internship next summer, but at times that is more than our minds can handle. Luckily for us, the College of Engineering is aware of this. To honor our achievements, and to help us relax before our finals and projects, there is the Engineering Rite of Passage.
Exclusively for the junior class, the Rite of Passage is the official acceptance ceremony into the Gordon and Jill Bourns College of Engineering. The change is subtle, but the encouragement is real.
Last Friday night I put on a tie and joined my fellow classmen in the Innovators Auditorium. Engineering faculty and students filled the room along with friends and family who came to enjoy the night with us. I found my parents and brother at a table talking with my Engineering Statistics professor, Dr. Kim, which continued throughout the night. I joked a little too freely about my complete lack of understanding in that class, but luckily Dr. Kim found that laughable as well.
The night started with the dean introducing a number of recently graduated alumni who spoke about their new life outside of CBU. An alumni from my major spoke about his job and trials in the work force, and that was just what I needed to hear. With all of my internship searching and resume revising, I’ve felt overwhelmed by my classes and responsibilities. Hearing from someone who has wrestled with the same circuit diagrams as me was exactly what I needed to hear for encouragement. If he can make it, so can I. All of the speakers gave a similar message, and I came away from that night with a new sense of motivation to keep striving on.
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