• Question: Do you have any messages for people or children that have very high hopes of being an engineer? QUICK QUESTION! If you met your 12-year-old self what would you say to him/her???

    Asked by nadeem to Alex, Claire, Kate, Marcus, Neil on 19 Jun 2014.
    • Photo: Marcus Johns

      Marcus Johns answered on 19 Jun 2014:


      If you want to be an engineer you’re going to have to work hard and sometimes you’ll question why you’re doing it. But I promise you that being able to look forward to going to work everyday knowing that there’ll be something new to challenge you is a reward worth the effort in getting there.

    • Photo: Alex Lyness

      Alex Lyness answered on 19 Jun 2014:


      Great question nadeem,

      If I bumped into my 12 year old self I would tell him to:

      “Stay curious all the time and carry on making, breaking, fixing things no matter what anyone else says. You’ll get stuck and make mistakes but one day someone will pay you really well to solve their problems because they didn’t make, break or fix enough things when they were kids.”

      I’d probably also tell myself to listen to my parents a bit more as a teenager and try harder in French class!

    • Photo: Claire Brockett

      Claire Brockett answered on 19 Jun 2014:


      Keep asking questions – how does this work, why did that break, what would happen if…
      Engineering is all about asking questions and finding solutions, so keep doing that! Work hard and keep going when things aren’t easy. That’s what I’d say!

    • Photo: Kate Niehaus

      Kate Niehaus answered on 19 Jun 2014:


      For a young person who wants to be an engineer, I’d say to pay attention in math class (this will make things easier down the road), always be thinking about how you could make things around you a little bit better, and be persistent – everyone finds some part of an engineering education challenging, but that comes with the territory.

      To my 12-year-old self, I would say to keep following what you’re interested in, to not be scared to speak up in class, and to keep reading!

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