I went to Hamilton yesterday to attend “my” students’ final presentation. As I wrote in a previous post, if I understand it correctly, the aim of the course is to make engineers designers. Some students might have had a struggle to accept a fact that technology is not the only thing that engineers need to care about. For the final presentation, the instructors invited some guests who work in the area that the students’ projects fit. During their presentation, the instructors, some of the guests and even other students often asked some harsh questions, which is quite common in a graduate school, which I have experienced several times, which I learned from. I tried to play a different role and made some constructive comments, like “this is good, so that could have been better if you did it in the same way.” I liked to see their smile after harsh questions.
After the presentation, one of the guests, who asked some harsh questions, told me that she liked my comments. It’s good to know that some people appreciate my role. The instructors appreciated it too, and they told me that they will talk to some people who could lead me to a design-related job. I understand that they cannot guarantee anything, and I should not be optimistic about it. But it’s good to know that somebody is out there willing to help me get a job.
I am not strong, but not alone in this fight. Somebody is out there.