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University of Kentucky College of Engineering

EGR 199 Engineering Futures Fall 2015

My Process to Become a World-Class Engineering Student
By
Joseph Griggs

Date of submission
December 15, 2015

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The Mindset of a Successful Engineer
Going from feeling like you sank to the bottom of the ocean floor to feeling like you can
ride waves all in a matter of a couple years, my first two years of high school were rough for me
at the time. Going from a public school to a private catholic school my freshman year was a bit
of a change. When I look back on it now, I dont regret any of it. Through my experience it made
me grow up and develop more as a person. Days would become weeks and then weeks would
become months. Everything would just be going by too quickly and I didnt know what I wanted
to do in the future. Going into junior year I finally started to grow up a little bit. Once football
ended my junior year, it made me want to work harder than ever to reach my initial goal to the
start of it all - the state championship. In the off season, I would strive to get better for my senior
football season. As I got in a routine with that it just hit me I wanted to have a larger goal, my
future after high school! I still wasnt quite sure what I wanted to pursue so I started to think
more about the majors that would interest me.
I have always looked up to my older sister, who is a Civil Engineer recently just
graduated from the University of Kentucky. I decided to ask her one day what made her decide to
become an Engineer. The only explanation she gave me was that her high school advisor
suggested it because she was good at math. I began to think that was a dumb reason but yet
again, I was in the same situation she was; I am really good at math and have no clue what I want
to major in. So I began to think long and hard for about a month trying to figure out if that was
what I wanted to do. The end of junior year I decided to go into engineering. I didnt want to
immediately decide which engineering I wanted to go into so I became undeclared. Being in an
Intro to Engineering class that covers a basis of all engineering fields got me into a better idea of
which field to go in. Im not sure if its genetics or what but I decided to go into Civil
Engineering like my sister. During that offseason with football, I began to set small goals for
myself such as eating consistently and keeping up with my workout routines. This was all a part
of a bigger goal that lead me to gain 30 pounds of good weight to start my senior football season.
In my opinion, when you set smaller goals for yourself in hope to achieve bigger goals, you
become more organized and are able to think ahead for a bigger picture. Starting my senior year I
developed good study habits. On top of worrying about football and studying the scouting report
for game days. The toughness got easier and this was all because of the routines I put myself in.

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At the end of the year, I didnt win the state championship but I felt proud about my season and
what I accomplished my senior year.
As college began to start, it made me feel good about what I did accomplish in high
school. That was only my first step and I am going to continue to make smaller goals to help
myself achieve that main goal. The past summer I worked a full time job, 40 hours a week at a
law firm. I then decided that I would continue to work through college. I realized it would be a
lot in which I started to get used to it so I thought everything would be fine from there on out.
Working at a law firm with peers older than me made me feel more mature and grown as a
person. This job helped me balance my time management in which I began to apply that in
college. In high school I never had to study as hard for tests and exams. I get through my first
exams in college, realize that something needed to change.
Transitioning from high school to college, I have made a bunch of new friends that were
in the same classes as me. This was the start of contributing to my new study habits. Having
these friends that shared the same classes made it a whole lot easier to study. Doing homework
with my friends helped the whole study experience to a new level. We talked and discussed the
problems on how to do them while grasping most of the concept behind the problems. I later
realized it was up to me to understand the rest of the concepts behind it. As a freshman, I have to
get through two semesters of both Calculus and Chemistry. I feel like if I got through my first
year with passing grades in both classes, then I will have a lot more confidence in my study
habits for all the other classes I have to take the rest of my college career. When grades came out
at midterm, I felt more motivation than ever. My GPA was a 2.47 and I needed to do something
about it. I brought that GPA up to a 2.93 just before finals and still have the potential of getting
between a 3.20 and a 3.50. Coming to the University of Kentucky and not know how to have
efficient study methods, I developed a mindset to change so I can in fact have efficient study
methods. Over the course of the year I have found places like The Study and The Help
Center for both my Calculus and my Chemistry classes. I started to strive to contact my
professors with as many questions about topics and my grades as possible. After talking to them
numerous times in person as well as in email, they began to know my name to my face. I feel
like a big key in college is to have a strong enough connection with your professors so you arent
some stranger by the end of the year. Depending on how well your professor knows you, might
play in to bumping up your borderline grade by the end of the semester if they noticed the

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improvement you made and the work you put in. I realized this early in my college career
because I would do the same in high school and they all seemed to be impressed by my hard
work. I am no Albert Einstein and when people think of an Engineering major, they always seem
to think you have to be a genious in order to pursue it. Ever since the start of my senior year in
high school I began to be the most dedicated than I have ever been. Going from getting things
done to starting assignments ahead of time, I have been more prepared than ever to accomplish
my goals. I felt like all the small goals I have and am setting for myself, I really embraces my
self-awareness in order to improve my study skills for my college career.
As a freshman, my major is technically Undergraduate Studies. I talked to my advisor on
how I planned on going into Engineering which is why I got but in EGR 199. She has been really
helpful over the course of the year trying to help me with scheduling my classes as well as other
advising advice. Whenever I have a concern with something I would just send her and email and
she would give me advice fairly quickly. I had met with her a few times to talk about classes and
how to change up my curriculum for Civil Engineering in order to make it work out for the rest
of college. After midterms I set an appointment to discuss my Chemistry grade to see how I was
apply to get that up. I was failing Chemistry after midterms and didnt think I was able to get it
up by the end of the year. After talking to both my advisor and Chemistry teacher multiple times
as well as changing my study methods, I now have the potential to pull out a B in the class after
finals.
After taking a learning styles questionnaire, I began to fully know what kind of student I
have become. One of the learning styles says that I am a visual learner and what this means is
that I have a better understanding of what Im learning if I see what Im trying to understand
rather than hearing everything verbally. Another learning style kind of falls into play with being a
visual learner is being more of an active learner rather than a reflective learner. To sum up these
learning styles, I am someone who understands concepts rather than just the facts, I am a hands
on learner with the use of pictures and diagrams, and I like to work out problems step by step
with knowing the concept behind each problem rather than skipping steps just to get an answer.
When it comes to Chemistry and Calculus this is a major key that helps me strive to be
successful in the future. At the University of Kentucky they make Chemistry harder than it really
is to be a weed-out course in order to get people to rethink theyre major if their curriculum
requires it. After talking to a lot of people about the weed-out courses my first couple years

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helps me prepare better for college in my later years. At midterms I had a failing grade in
Chemistry and I made it a huge deal on how much I need to improve so I dont have to retake it
next semester. I want to be ahead of the game at all costs and not be someone who is behind.
College can be stressful as all of us know but I have learned that I need to prepare for all my
work as early as possible in order to be more successful. Coming closer to finals in my fall
semester I have brought my grade up to a mid C. I have three As and two Cs in both Chemistry
and Calculus. I calculated out the grade I need on the final in order to both keep my C and to
potentially get a B in the class. Having an engineering mindset, its not about just passing the
class but to do as much as you can in order to do better. I need like a 50% in both Chemistry and
Calculus in order to keep my C and roughly a 90% to get a B in both classes. Even if I dont get
a B in both classes, I am still going to prepare as if I were to get a 90% on both finals. Another
key when taking exams is about preparing enough to develop great confidence before walking
into your exams. Even if you dont feel like you know all the material 100% but still feel
confident when walking into your exam will make you do better because you are confident that
you know enough.
Being affiliated with a fraternity has also helped me prepare better for my classes as well.
There are many stereotypes about a fraternity that people think and most are not true. Its not
always about going out and having a good time on the weekends but they strive for you to be a
successful student first. A motto that fraternities strive for is to be a scholar first rather than the
having the social aspect of college. I started to realize this both before and after going into
college. There have been numerous weekends that I wouldnt go out at all, miss a Kentucky
football game or basketball game and stay in and study. Doing this after a few weekends has
helped with my mindset of being confident in my school work. I am proud of what I have
accomplished my first year in college going from the start of the year to where Im at now just
before finals. Another thing with college and being affiliated with a fraternity is that you share
close relationships with your brothers. I have become a lot closer with my friends in the
fraternity that share the same classes with me and share the same interests regarding to their
major. I feel like you can get a lot more effect study time in when your brothers have this same
mindset as you and you both share a good relationship rather meeting someone in your class and
not being as close with them. Not all this it true though, being in a huge lecture of 200 plus
students seems hard to try and meet people to be your friends that you would study with. After a

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few weeks, people tend to sit in their same seat as well as yourself so it is easier to meet the
people around you and get to know them. Being in a recitation for both Chemistry and Calculus
is helpful because the class is a lot more condensed with about 20 people so its a lot easier to
become close with those people.
My first year in college I live at home in order to save up money to move out somewhere
nice in the future. As most engineering majors, they get to experience living in the Engineering
Dorm through the Living Learning program at the University of Kentucky. I did not get to
experience this and get to become close to my dorm-mates. This brings me back to being a part
of a fraternity and being close with my brothers as well as becoming close with my classmates. I
can study at the fraternity house or the library with these people and still have the same benefits
as someone who lives in the Engineering dorm in which they study together at the dorm. I feel
like living at home my first year in college was a good choice to save money. I leave early in the
morning for class and class on campus to hang out, lift when I can, and study until late at night
until I go home.
Everything I have done in my life has been all around not quitting and striving to be
successful. I guess its more of a pride thing and how I was raised but that has always been my
mindset. In every sport I have played, baseball and football as well as the other hobby sports that
I participated in, I have always been about not quitting when times get hard. As I got older and
went into high school, football and baseball were a lot more serious and got pretty hard at times
in practices. Football especially, there were times that I didnt feel like I was good enough to
keep pursuing it but I kept grinding in order to be better. My sophomore year in high school is
when I felt this way the most. After I get to the end of my season in football my junior year, we
lose in the semifinals yet again to Highlands in Northern Kentucky. I still didnt have a starting
position my junior year and after losing that game, I felt like I needed to work harder than ever
not only to get a starting spot but to gain more good weight and get in as good shape as possible.
During that first month in the offseason I decided to quit baseball in order to focus on achieving
this goal for my senior football season. This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to
make because I have played baseball my whole life. I enjoyed playing football more than I did
playing baseball because I felt like baseball at my high school was too serious rather than being
serious and having a fun time doing it. After making that hard decision, I didnt stop in the
offseason; I achieved that goal by the start of my senior season, improved greatly on my lifts and

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gained 30 good pounds of weight. I didnt stop there and continued to work for myself as well as
helping my team to be successful. By the end of the year, we have a successful winning record
and still lose to Highlands in the semifinals. I was really grateful in what my team and myself got
accomplished that year and I wouldnt trade it for anything. After that season I didnt have
anything to do during the time besides school so I decided to go back to baseball and see what I
could accomplish. Going into baseball season, I already realized that I probably wouldnt get a
starting spot but I wanted to keep working to see if I could at least get some playing time. I got
closer with my teammate again after missing one season and I did in fact get some playing time
during that season. I got to pinch run for some for the catcher and got to play a few games as
well. It wasnt much but I was glad I got closer with my teammates and still feel like I got what I
wanted to be accomplished. These last two years of high school helped me greatly in developing
a mindset that would help me transition into college. Even though I quit baseball I continue
every day to keep my mindset of not quitting when necessary unless it helps myself in order to
have a better outcome.
Getting ready to go into my second semester of freshman year, I feel like I am
successfully transitioned into the college atmosphere. It was really hard to transition from high
school to college at first because they are totally different. I only had one AP class in my high
school career so I wasnt prepared much at all going into college and knowing how to study. I got
too comfortable with my high school classes and not really needing to study much for them and
prepare ahead for tests. The only class I did study for was my AP Physics class. My physics class
was by far my favorite class in high school and the teacher was my favorite as well. Studying
hard for one class my senior year is totally different than studying for five classes my next year
in college. After getting through those first five classes my first semester in college it has made
me know how to prepare and be organized when it comes to studying for my classes for the rest
of my college career. I understand that my classes will get harder and harder as I transition from
each year and I feel like this is a good thing because it helps your mindset to become better than
it already is to focus on how to pursue your career in the life after college.
I have already analyzed my curriculum for being a Civil Engineering major and plan on
declaring this summer going into my sophomore year. I have already followed this curriculum
because I have been almost positive that is what I was to declare for. The only thing holding me
back from declaring sooner is that I have a potential internship lined up for the summer for an

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Electrical Engineering firm. The past summer before my freshman year I worked at Morgan &
Morgan law firm. I have been really fortunate in getting that job and potentially getting that paid
internship in the coming up summer. The reason I am so blessed for this is because both jobs
build on my resume to be pretty strong when looking more jobs in the future. After college and
being hopeful and confident in getting my Bachelors in Science with a Civil Engineering degree,
I feel like I will have an advantage with my resume with all the jobs that will build up in the
future.
Another thing I have learned so far in my college career is the difference in teaching style
within college professors and high school teachers. With high school teachers, they seem to
guide you in the way they give their lesson. When you take notes most of the time it is through a
PowerPoint and they always seemed to give you time to write everything out. The only exeption
was in my AP Physics class in which she talked a lot quicker and gave us less time to write notes
down. I feel like if I had more AP classes and the note taking in the classes was about the same
then I would have been more prepared to take notes when coming to college. The way all college
professors have taught so far is they talk really fast and most classes dont give you enough time
to write everything down. During this past semester, I have developed a mindset in order to
know what to write down in order to come back to my notes later to do homework to remember
more of the concepts that went along with the notes I took. The think I liked the most was taking
notes in my chemistry class. She made us go out and buy a notebook with all the material that
was covered for the semester in a printed out PowerPoint. The neat thing about this notebook
was that all the material that was needed to be covered over the semester was on the notebook
with exceptions of some blank spots to fill in. After learning how to take notes efficiently after
being in the college atmosphere for a semester has made more feel more successful when
preparing for exams and homework. The thing about tests in high school was that I never felt like
I had to study much at all. But the thing is that in college I have to prepare early and take small
steps one at a time between each exam. Also when it comes closer to exam time I have to really
study a lot harder a week or so in advance in order to keep the material fresh in my head.
Overall as a person, I have begun to realize and understand the beginning of growing up.
Through having work experience as well as getting through my first semester of college has
made me realize that I am better prepared for what my future has to hold for me. From being
organized and responsible as an individual to developing into a young man, I still strive every

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day that I can in order to be better as a person in order to help make my long term goals come
true. Its hard to believe that Ive grown up so fast and am already a freshman in college. Sports
are over with and all I have to look forward to anymore be watching the sports I love, participate
in hobbies that I enjoy doing in order to stay active, and focus on my school work in order to
help achieve my goal in becoming an engineer. High school started out less serious and later got
me to be more serious in the thought that I was going to a great college such as the University of
Kentucky. College at the University of Kentucky started out difficult and has later helped me
transition into becoming more comfortable in the college atmosphere. I am very thankful for all
the people that has been able to help me to become where I am at now. I am thankful for my
family especially for raising me in which I feel like is the main factor on the kind of person I
have developed into today. I am also thankful for all the good friends that I have today and have
had in the past in order to help me have a good time and to forget about all the stress that school
involves. I am truly grateful for the dedication and confidence I have developed over the past
few years to help me determine what I wanted to do for the future. I cant wait to see what the
future has in store for me and I am ready to continue to make more goals in order to help my
future and to be more ahead of the game and as successful as ever.