Introduction to a Mechanical Engineer
To begin, my name is Dylan Lloyd and I'm currently a junior here at OU. I'm from Kansas City, Missouri, and am majoring in mechanical engineering. I chose this degree because I've always loved math and science, but what I've found throughout my search for internships is that the coolest thing the degree offers is a wide variety of options. I've applied to everything from basic engineering positions to consulting and technical positions, as well as financial and management positions. It seems that there is high demand for people with engineering degrees, and mechanical engineering may be the most broad of them all. The best class I took last semester was Engineering Leadership. It was a 4000 level course, and was very different compared to the other classes I took. Almost all of my engineering courses up to this point have been about engineering fundamentals and how to apply those to problem solving. None except Engineering Leadership talked about how you think as an engineer. Most of our class time was simply spent talking about anything and everything related to either engineering or leadership, and sometimes what we talked about wasn't related to either of those. It was fascinating to hear different opinions on controversial issues, and to understand that there are a lot of people like me who aren't quite sure what they're going to do for the rest of their life.
To cover more some slightly more trivial information about me, I recently read Slaughterhouse Five for the first time, and I think that may be the best book I've ever read. The way it was written was amazing, and the author's ideas on time, happiness, and the value of human life were way off the beaten path and shockingly truthful. My favorite movie is Good Will Hunting, which I've seen probably forty to fifty times. My favorite food is crab (I have no idea how that started given that I've lived in Missouri most of my life), and I listen to a wide variety of music, although my favorites would be classified as alternative.
I have a lot of hobbies, and try to divide my time fairly evenly between them all. For starters, I love to be active and exercise (I'm on the OU Ultimate Frisbee team), and I love music. I play both the piano and guitar, although it's much easier to have a guitar in an apartment than a piano. I enjoy playing chess, which I do online or against friends on occasion, and I enjoy reading (currently reading Catch 22). Outside of these, I enjoy spending time with friends and socializing, and I'm known to be somewhat of an event planner, which is unfortunate as generally I'm put in charge of them and I've found them to be quite stressful.
If I had one extra day of fun, I would take about 10 of my closest friends and family and go cover the Pacific Northwest. San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are all surrounded by beautiful scenery and national parks, and although it may be hard to cover all of those in a day, especially starting from Norman, I'd like to try.
To cover more some slightly more trivial information about me, I recently read Slaughterhouse Five for the first time, and I think that may be the best book I've ever read. The way it was written was amazing, and the author's ideas on time, happiness, and the value of human life were way off the beaten path and shockingly truthful. My favorite movie is Good Will Hunting, which I've seen probably forty to fifty times. My favorite food is crab (I have no idea how that started given that I've lived in Missouri most of my life), and I listen to a wide variety of music, although my favorites would be classified as alternative.
I have a lot of hobbies, and try to divide my time fairly evenly between them all. For starters, I love to be active and exercise (I'm on the OU Ultimate Frisbee team), and I love music. I play both the piano and guitar, although it's much easier to have a guitar in an apartment than a piano. I enjoy playing chess, which I do online or against friends on occasion, and I enjoy reading (currently reading Catch 22). Outside of these, I enjoy spending time with friends and socializing, and I'm known to be somewhat of an event planner, which is unfortunate as generally I'm put in charge of them and I've found them to be quite stressful.
If I had one extra day of fun, I would take about 10 of my closest friends and family and go cover the Pacific Northwest. San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are all surrounded by beautiful scenery and national parks, and although it may be hard to cover all of those in a day, especially starting from Norman, I'd like to try.
Two of My Favorite Hobbies
Hello Dylan! I read Slaughterhouse Five for a class in high school but didn't really appreciate it at the time. I might re-read it based on your recommendation. I also love Good Will Hunting, although I can't say I've seen it as many times as you have. I reserve my repeat watching for Parks and Rec and The Office, haha. Anyways, good luck in the course!
ReplyDeleteI have learned so much about the huge range of engineering options from students in these classes over the years, Dylan: it is definitely one of the best areas at OU! And leadership is one of those cross-disciplinary topics: it's really important in education, too, and I benefit by following people at Twitter who study leadership in different fields just to see what I can learn that is relevant for education too.
ReplyDeleteAnd Slaughterhouse-Five is one of my favorite books too: maybe you could do a project for this class using the Tralfamadorian to tell some kind of story inspired by Indian traditions... there are some Tralfamadorian ideas that really resonate with Indian ideas like karma and also the idea of Maya, illusion (so that time, for example, is just an illusion). That could make for a really cool project... and I bet you would inspire other people in class to read Slaughterhouse-Five. In fact, just writing this, now I am thinking that I should re-read that book; I have not read it in a long time. If time is an illusion, it seems like I should be able to have all the time I want for reading all the books, ha ha, but alas, there does not seem to be enough time... and so it goes. :-)
Hi Dylan!
ReplyDeleteVery cool about your major! A lot of my best friends are engineering majors and I am jealous! You guys do so much, while I will be in school for most of my life. You know what that means? It means that I can put off being an adult as long as I like haha. How did you get into piano and guitar? I played piano since I was 7 because my parents forced me, but I always wanted to learn guitar. HOwever, I can't ever press down the right strings. Ahh, I love event planning, too, even though it's stressful!
Good luck in the class!
Hi Dylan,
ReplyDeleteI am an engineering major too! Chemical engineering! I agree many employers want someone with an engineering background, and the diversity of the engineering fields are helpful. That's cool that you are on the OU frisbee team. I have a few friends that are on the team as well! I believe staying active is an important priority not only for physical health but for mental health as well!
Hi Dylan,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that OU has incorporated the Engineering Leadership class. My kids are involved in Lego First Robotics and my husband is a CS developer. The consistent complaint that we hear from the leaders of STEM organizations is that they struggle with finding quality leadership and communication skills in their junior level employees.
In response to your more trivial information, I haven't read Slaughterhouse Five, but this video we watched in one of my writing classes made me fall in love with Kurt Vonnegut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ. Have you started watching the Catch 22 series on Hulu? I have it saved to my watch list, but I haven't started it yet. I'm currently reading Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase series. I'm almost done with it. I've enjoyed it.
I look forward to getting to know you over the semester!
-Eden
Hi Dylan! Great introduction post! My brother graduated from OU with a electrical engineering and it blew my mind how much work it takes to become an engineer of any type! Its awesome you have so many hobbies! I couldn't imagine being the event planner in my group it seems stressful to me to try to get everyone in one agreeable place and time. haha Best wishes this semster and good luck with all your future goals!
ReplyDeleteHi Dylan!
ReplyDeleteI totally relate to not knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life yet having a vast number of options. I also play guitar and piano. It definitely easier to keep a guitar in an apartment but small apartments are why keyboards were invented. Much easier storage and they are great for traveling. Good luck with the rest of your semester!
Hey Dylan! I am also a mechanical engineering major and chose this for my major due to my aptitude and attraction to math and physics. The variety of choices that there are for fields of mechanical engineering is definitely a great thing! I am a senior so I have to decide what field that I want to start in pretty soon. I used to play ultimate frisbee all the time in high school as my high school had an ultimate frisbee league and we would play several times a week but I haven't played recently. Best of luck this semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Dylan, I like classes like the one you described as well. It is great to learn the fundamentals of your degree or your interests, but it is very interesting to hear the opinions of those who may be your future colleagues. It helps you develop as a person. I did a lot of robotics and shop in high school, but never really considered engineering. I also like to read a lot, but I have never gotten very far with playing music. I am tone deaf and have learned just the basics of piano.
ReplyDeleteNice to get to know you.
Hi Dylan,
ReplyDeleteSo I experience this crazy thing sometimes. I will just be living my life and something random happens, and then I’ll see it pop up again the very next day. I had a guitar that I gave to my brother. I haven’t thought about it in years, but just this weekend my dad asked me to tune it for him. Then I see you talking about having a guitar. And I just heard about the movie Good Will Hunting for the first time yesterday from a psychology book that was talking about robin Williams. Then all of a sudden I read your intro, and you start talking about it. I’ll have to watch it. It sounds like a good movie.
Hey Dylan!
ReplyDeleteYour major sounds very interesting and also hard haha. That’s so cool you like science and math, I try to avoid it as much as I can because I am not that great at it. Good Will Hunting is definitely one of the best films ever created I do agree. All your hobbies seem like fun things to do and it makes me wish I had more time to do stuff like that. Anyway, I hope you do great this semester!
Hi Dylan! It's interesting that you're a mechanical engineering major! My roommate is a civil engineering major, so I know it can be rough. And it's great that you enjoyed Slaughterhouse Five! I read it during my sophomore year of high school and it's a strange and wacky book, but it is also a meaningful book about the effects of war. I'm probably due for a reread soon! San Francisco is a beautiful city too, so I definitely recommend dropping by there for a trip sometime!
ReplyDeleteHi Dylan. I'm impressed that you are a mechanical engineer! I know that getting that degree can be arduous but keep it up! It sounds like you are the perfect guy for the job, as per your interest in math. I've never read Slaughterhouse 5 but I may check it out after hearing your opinion. That's awesome that you are into reading! I would love to get back into reading, I just feel like I don't have time. In other words, I need to prioritize it better. It was nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteHello Dylan,
ReplyDeleteVonnegut, huh? If you liked the idea of circular time and sci-fi/dystopian stories, which it seems like you do, you might consider watching the movie Arrival, which also focuses largely on circular time. You really ought to watch it twice to appreciate the beauty of it. Still one of my favorite movies. I imagine being an engineering student would be stressful, especially if you're unsure of what you want to do with your degree. I'm sure you'll figure it out, though. So it goes (my favorite little repetitive quip from Slaughterhouse. Vonnegut says so much using so little). I look forward to reading your writing this semester.
Hello Dylan!
ReplyDeleteI have massive respect for engineers and a special bias over mechanical ones hehe. My boyfriend is a mechanical engineering major - I wonder if you might know each other! But I also don't know how big the junior class is for mechE's. My dad is also an engineer (but electrical), so I'm pretty much surrounded by math and physics experts. I'm a Public Health, Pre-Med major and I absolutely hate math and physics so big props to you! I also just traveled to SF last winter break and it was one of my favorite trips ever. It's definitely worth visiting. Hope you get the chance someday!
Hey Dylan!
ReplyDeleteGlad to have met you this semester on the Apes (so sad that out semester abruptly ended rip). I am always happy to meet another Kansas Citian in the real world! Also, I also really love seafood too, despite growing up in the middle of the country! Have you ever visited McCormick and Schmidts? It's a pretty fancy seafood place on the Plaza and it is delicious!! I can't wait until next year when we actually get to play a full frisbee season. See ya bud!