Josh is a white man attending a Canadian university and majoring in mechanical engineering. He was originally interested in programming and game design, but during high school switched his interest to mechanical engineering due to its focus on problem-solving and design. During Josh’s first year, his classes combined aspects of mechanical and electrical engineering. He was able to spend time buildings things like robots and catapults, and enjoyed the opportunity to combine theoretical problem solving with hands-on building. During the fall, he found that he was faltering a bit as he begin to struggle in his classes:
I started to question whether or not I should be here if I’m not able to succeed in this class…. One professor actually told me, “I wouldn’t care if you got a 2.5 in this class and just passed it barely because as long as you get the concept and applied them later, it’s not about whether you can pass it with flying colors.” So, I realized a high grade isn’t the only grade you can get. I also realized it’s a culmination of concepts, but as long as I get the ones that I’m there to master, that’s what the program was focused on teaching me at that time.
From Josh’s first interview
The image below is a journey map that Josh created summarizing some of the highs and lows from his first year as an engineering student.
Want to learn more about Josh’s journey? Check out his tag here (or by clicking the ‘Josh’ tag below) to see quotes from his interviews over the years.