The Magic of Engineering for the Customer
Creating a schedule for the first time can be a daunting task, especially for a first year engineering student. There are so many aspects to consider…
I feel like almost half of the sentences I’ve spoken over the past few weeks have started with “So, I’m going to China…”. I’m an undergraduate researcher at the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), which is one of my favorite things at Tufts. Last school year I worked on a project with LEGO Education China called StoryGames. StoryGames is a competition that helps promote the use of LEGO Story Starter Kits, which provide students and educators with a tool to integrate literacy and engineering. I thought my boss was joking when he told me that I might want to pick up a few “key Mandarin phrases”, not the case. The competition is taking place in Shanghai, and myself and a post-doctoral research fellow at the CEEO are getting to go act as judges at the competition, and visit Chinese schools and after school centers to see how they are using LEGOs. Needless to say, I am pumped for the experience: going to China to do work with LEGOs, very cool.
Only thing is, the trip is from October 14th - October 20th, smack dab in the middle of the first round of midterms. So as you can probably imagine, I panicked a lot. How was I going to keep up with problem sets and labs and tests and what about softball? Well here’s the great thing about Tufts: It’s not that out of the norm for an undergraduate to go halfway around the world for something Tufts-related. It’s not going to be a piece of cake by any means, and I will no doubt be doing lots of problem sets and lab reports on the plane. However, all my professors have been accommodating and really helpful. One professor even suggested that we move an exam I’ll be back in time for just so that I can make sure I feel solid on all the material and get over jet lag. And don't worry, our strength and conditioning coaches gave me a list of exercises I can do in my hotel room so that I keep up my strength and am ready to jump right into lift when I get back.
The lesson is that Tufts is a place where learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom (blah, I know that sounds like a corny college pickup line). But seriously, I’m probably going to miss some chunks of material, and wind up not understanding things in my classes that I would had I been here that week in October. But what I am going to learn from getting to go to China and work on something I’m passionate about is something that Tufts values just as much.
Creating a schedule for the first time can be a daunting task, especially for a first year engineering student. There are so many aspects to consider…
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