Amanda is a white woman from a European country attending a school in the southeastern U.S. and majoring in mechanical engineering. She came to the U.S. primarily to play soccer, but has found herself increasingly drawn to engineering and is looking forward to her time in the field after her soccer career is finished. In engineering, she is drawn to the design aspects and has started a small design company with some fellow students. Her transition to the U.S. educational system required some adjustment:
From going from our high school where you have learned that you need to be self independent and professors don’t give you homework and then you come here and it feels like you’re in elementary school again, because they’re giving you homework for everything in class … I didn’t really like it in the beginning because it felt like, just let me start it the way I want to start it and when I want to do it and I will do well on the exam…. After being here three years I still don’t like the thousand homework courses. But I’ve learned to accept it and I don’t waste my energy on it, like it’s a good way to be prepared for next time instead of having to do everything on your own.
From Amanda’s first interview
The image below is a journey map that Amanda created summarizing some of the highs and lows from her first year as an engineering student.
Want to learn more about Amanda’s journey? Check out her tag here (or by clicking the ‘Amanda’ tag below) to see quotes from his interviews over the years.